Published: August 2001
PotashCorp’s travelling HAZMAT safety train pulled into Chicago recently, giving more that 200 firefighters from Chicago and its suburbs an opportunity to learn about ammonia rail car suppression.

The all-day sessions introduced responders to safety procedures, inspection and basic leak repair techniques in the classroom. The participants then tried their hands at repairing simulated leaks on the rail car.

Donning full safety gear and armed with the right tools to make repairs on valves and pipes, local firefighters clambered to the top of the rail car to stop a simulated leak.

Emergency responders from various PotashCorp sites provided the hands-on safety training through the use of a custom-built rail car during the Hazardous Materials Workshop.

PotashCorp, which located its U.S. headquarters in Northbrook last fall, sponsors about 15 such workshops for fire departments throughout the country every year. The HAZMAT train has been on the rails since 1996.

“The biggest benefit is that we learn how each other works prior to an incident,” said Scott Wisinewski, coordinator of Hazardous Material Training with the Chicago Fire Department. “This type of training irons out any confusion of the way people work in certain situations.”

“The safety training not only provided an opportunity to share our expertise, but also gave us a chance to meet some of our new neighbors from Chicago and the suburbs,” said D.D. Lewis, PotashCorp’s manager of Community Outreach. Each fire department or first responder group sending a representative to the workshop received a copy of the PCS Hazardous Materials Workshop CD. “This assures that the information learned in the classroom can be reviewed or shared back at the station house,” said Lewis.

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