The Risks of Transport and Possibility of Their Assessment

Transportation of hazardous materials is currently an essential part of the functionality and operability of the national and international economy. Transported hazardous materials include for example petroleum products such as diesel or gasoline, technical gases and other chemicals. The paper focuses primarily on the form of the road transport (transportation according to the international agreement of the international transport ADR) and the risks associated with it (accidents with spills of hazardous materials). Besides risks arising from the carriage, there may appear threats during the transportation of the hazardous materials that can have serious consequences for human life and health and have the potential to cause serious damage to the environment, property etc. It is necessary to take into account the loading work (filling transport containers, tanks, pumping, etc.) with the risk of leaking hazardous materials. The assessment of the transport risks is a needed pre-planned part of safe transportation. Although hidden threats may occur during every transport, these risks have not been usually analyzed. The paper focuses on the methods of the assessment of the transport risks including hidden risks that may cause serious accidents during the transport with all its negative impacts on human health and the environment.