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July 12, 2000 10:48 AM, EDT

Those involved in transferring hazardous cargo need more training, according to the the National Transportation Safety Board, and industry groups have agreed to cooperate in updating guidelines.

That finding arose from NTSB’s investigation of a June 1999 incident that resulted in the death of a tank truck driver at a Michigan leather company.

An employee of the Whitehall Leather Co. directed a truck driver from Quality Carriers to connect the cargo delivery hose to the wrong storage tank. Instead of putting the tanker’s load of sodium hydrosulfide into a tank containing the same chemical, the driver put the cargo in a tank that contained ferrous sulfate.

The chemical reaction produced hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. The substance killed the truck driver, who was found inside the tannery building.

For the full story, see the July 10 print edition of Transport Topics. .