Those actions taken to preserve the health and safety of emergency responders and the public during an incident involving releases of dangerous goods.

When determining the Initial Isolation and Protective Distances, the responder should have: identified the material by its ID Number and Name; (if an ID Number cannot be found, use the Name of Material index in the blue-bordered pages to locate that number); found the three-digit guide for that material in order to consult the emergency actions recommended jointly with this table; and noted the wind direction.

Look in Table 1 (green bordered pages) for the ID Number and Name of the Material. If the shipping name is not known and Table 1 lists more than one name for the same ID Number, use the entry with the largest protective action distances.

Determine if the incident involves a small (less than 208 Liters or 55 US gallons) or large spill (more than 208 liters or 55 US gallons); and whether it is day or night. Day is anytime between sunrise and sunset and night is anytime between sunset and sunrise.

Look up the Initial Isolation Distance in Table 1 which will determine the radius of the Initial Isolation Zone. People not directly involved in the emergency response operation should be directed to move out of the zone in a direction perpendicular to the wind direction (crosswind), and away from the spill to a minimum distance as prescribed by the Initial Action Distance. Unprotected emergency responders should not be allowed to enter the Initial Isolation Zone.