Templates and records · SQAS2022

Emergency response plan for chemical transport

A spill on the motorway is not handled with the building’s emergency plan. A haulier needs a plan for whatever can happen on the road, during loading and during unloading, and needs to rehearse it.

In one sentence

The transport emergency response plan sets out what to do in the event of a spill, leak, fire or accident involving dangerous goods on the road or on site —who alerts whom, what equipment the vehicle carries, how to coordinate with the shipper and the emergency services— and records the drills, because SQAS assesses emergency preparedness in the safety area of its Core questionnaire and the ADR requires the instructions in writing and the corresponding equipment to be carried on board (5.4.3 and 8.1.5).

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Type of information: Mandatory document Safety, health, environment and security area of the Core; ADR instructions in writing (5.4.3)
Who fills it in: Safety lead and transport office With the safety adviser; drivers are the first line of response
When: Plan kept current, drills held regularly SQAS asks how often exercises take place and how they are evaluated; at least one a year is usual
How long it is kept: Current plan and the cycle’s drills The plan is kept up to date; drill reports are retained as evidence for the assessment

What the standard requires

What SQAS2022 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The ADR requires instructions in writing, in a set format, to be carried in the cab, telling the driver what to do in an accident or emergency according to the hazard of the goods, as well as the protective and response equipment the vehicle and its crew must carry (5.4.3 and 8.1.5).

SQAS asks for more: the company’s own plan covering scenarios on the road, at depots and during loading and unloading, with a clear 24-hour alert chain, coordination with the shipper and the emergency services, and periodic drills that are evaluated.

Many chemical shippers take part in sector mutual aid schemes for transport emergencies, and the haulier’s plan should know how to activate them.

Read it in context: Safety, health, and environment, in the SQAS2022 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Scenarios: spill, leak, fire, rollover, accident with injuries, on the road and on site
24-hour alert chain: driver, transport office, adviser, shipper, emergency services
Current ADR instructions in writing in every vehicle
On-board equipment and its inspection
Coordination with the shipper and mutual aid schemes
Driver training in emergency response
Drill programme
Report on each drill: scenario, timings, deviations and actions

Example

Example: drill for a leak on the road

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Scenario	Leak at the manhole of a flammable liquid tanker in a motorway service area · 11 March 2026
Alert	The driver calls the transport office emergency number within 3 minutes and 112 as per the procedure
Instructions in writing	The driver finds them and applies the class 3 measures without hesitation
Internal chain	The transport office alerts the adviser and the shipper within 15 minutes
Deviation 1	The shipper’s out-of-hours emergency number was out of date
Deviation 2	A high-visibility vest and a torch in the on-board kit had not been checked
Actions	Update the emergency directory for every shipper · transport office · 31 March; on-board kit check added to the monthly inspection
Plan review	Version 3 issued on 5 April

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

The warehouse emergency plan is presented as the emergency plan, with no road scenarios.
Instructions in writing from an earlier ADR edition in the vehicles.
Shippers’ emergency phone numbers not kept up to date.
No drills, or drills always held at the depot and never in a road scenario.
Subcontractors’ drivers do not know the plan.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Spill and accident plans are managed with scheduled drills.
2The plan is published as a controlled document, with each driver’s read acknowledgement.
3The deviations found in each drill become actions with an owner and a deadline.
4Drivers’ emergency response training has its expiry date and its alert.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

What are ADR instructions in writing?

A four-page document in a format set by the ADR, carried in the cab in a language the driver understands, stating what to do in an accident according to the hazard of the goods and what equipment must be carried on board.

Is the warehouse emergency plan good enough for SQAS?

It covers the premises, but not the road or operations at the customer’s site. The transport module calls for a plan that addresses those scenarios.

How often should drills be held?

SQAS sets no single frequency, but it asks whether drills take place and whether they are evaluated. At least one a year, varying the scenarios, is what assessors usually expect.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) UNECE · Current edition
SQAS — Safety & Quality Assessment for Sustainability: Core and Transport Service questionnaires Cefic · Revised questionnaires in force since 1 January 2022
SQAS/ESAD Guidelines Cefic · September 2024