Purpose: This paper seeks to tackle the complex problem of integrating real‐time data information about the tracking of a hazardous material (hazmat) vehicle with classical risk evaluation methodologies in order to describe possible accident scenarios. The application deals with the transport of hydrocarbon dangerous goods, where the accident consequences may involve the population exposed along the infrastructure used for transportation.Design/methodology/approach: The approach taken consists of three phases. First, the acquisition of real‐time data about the travel and the carried hazmat; second, the evaluation of the risk area; and finally, a Geographic Information System (GIS) are taken into account.Findings: The findings of this analysis constitute the methodological basis to implement a decision support system as regards hazmat transport risk analysis, also in real time, with important evaluations for planning criteria. Using TIP (Transport Integrated Platform), the data collection is received in real time and the scenario construction and visualization may represent a user‐friendly tool for prompt risk evaluation.Research limitations/implications: The information displayed by the GIS interface is easy to use, and gives prompt information about the accident consequences.Originality/value: In terms of the total impact from the hazmat transport system to the whole environment (humans, goods, infrastructures, services and natural elements), the paper focuses on the importance of creating a historical real‐time database implemented from a real time information, that represents a standard set of information necessary to define an accident scenarios, for hazmat transport.

The transportation of dangerous goods by road is the most accident-prone mode of transportation, even if accidents involving road transportation of dangerous goods are considered as a Low Probability and High Consequence event (LPHC event). However, several dangerous goods are transported by road networks, such as petroleum products and chemicals, which can generate major dangerous consequences such as spills, explosions, fires, or toxic clouds. In this context, this article presents a method to calculate and quickly quantify the sizes of impact zones characterized by high lethality and irreversible injuries to people in the case of a hazardous materials transport accident. This method is used as a module for the analysis of the consequences of different potential accident scenarios, for the Web-GIS platform proposed by LOSE+LAB, that implements appropriate ICT tools and systems for monitoring the flow of goods that would enable a continuous monitoring system at the cross-border level and transmit data and information to the territory actors involved in the management of dangerous goods according to the ADR standard. The proposed method provides the user with a visualization of the possible outcomes of an event by reproducing the impact area for different accident scenarios, which can provide quick maps of the hazard and represents a decision support system for territorial governance in terms of intervention and response protocols for emergency management in the cases of dangerous goods accidents.

This paper aims to present a Decision Support System (DSS) for the detection and monitoring of Hazardous Material (hazmat) transportation on the...

The resource allocation problem in case of emergency management represents a serious theme especially in the last years, when the occurrence of industrial disasters has become more frequent. Special attention has to be given to the emergency management in case of maritime or port accidents which involve hazardous material above all in MED cities where the seaport are part of the urban areas. The main challenge in emergency management is to define the optimal allocation of the available resources in timing and space in order to tackle, to mitigate and to recover effectively the hazardous event. In this paper, an optimal allocation problem has been formalized as a mathematical programming problem. The proposed model takes into account the dynamic of the first responders' availability at each node and the dynamic behavior of the hazard event to be faced. The problem minimizes the objective function that is the combination of resource allocation, damages, and transfer costs. The resources refer to extinguishing powers which may be generated by the fire fighters' teams of the fire stations available at each node of the network in a cooperative emergency management prospective. The model has been tested on a case study that concerns the simultaneous occurrence of two hazardous materials accidents in two ports located in Northern Italy.