Safety Analysis of Transportation Chain for Dangerous Goods: A Case Study in Colombia

In recent years, the accident rates of freight transportation in the towns of Colombia have increased. The risk related to the transport of dangerous goods and its impact on transport chain is not well-known for the companies or the national authorities. Municipalities do not have a specific legislation for the transportation of these materials inside urban areas and is the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation that regulates this type of freight movements in road national network, including roads across urban areas. The main objective of this research was to develop a methodology focused on identifies the key variables that would allow us to propose a set of strategic and operational indicators to integrate road safety in the transport chain of major dangerous products transported by road in Colombia. The methodology assessed the degree to which road safety is within the strategic and operational planning by the stakeholders of the transport chain as well as the identification of compliance with the law by freight generators, carriers and drivers carrying HAZMAT in urban areas in Colombia. The research is aimed to contribute to the analysis to integrate road safety into strategic and operational planning of transportation chain and to implement public policies in order to improve the transport chain of HAZMAT in Colombian cities, along with specific indicators to enhance the performance of the transport chain by the organizations involved.