Terms of Use for Emergency Response Telephone Number Service

The caller is responsible for including any applicable international exit and country codes when using the PERS international emergency response telephone number.

What are Country and Exit Codes? Country codes are used when dialing an international phone number. Exit codes (also known as international access codes or IDD International Direct Dialing codes) are used for dialing out of a country.

Example - Dialing from the Philippines to the United States:

00 (Philippines exit code) + 1 (USA country code) + 3 digit area code + 7 digit phone number.

Section 2 - Authorized Use

The PERS emergency response telephone numbers may be used by registered shippers and transporters for hazardous materials shipments that originate from within the United States and registered manufactures of chemical products. The emergency numbers may also be posted at registered facilities for accidents, spills, leaks, or vandalism. PERS authorizes each Registrant to use its emergency response telephone numbers for:

Hazardous materials shipping papers;
Safety Data Sheets (SDS);
Hazard Communication Labels;
Posting at registered addresses/facilities; and
Tier II chemical inventory forms for facilities subject to EPA's EPCRA requirements.

When used, the PERS emergency response telephone numbers must be clearly identified as an emergency contact. The Registrant’s account name as registered and/or PERS customer number must be clearly identified on any shipping document, SDS document, product packaging/labeling, or hazard communication label where the PERS telephone number is indicated.

As required by USDOT §172.604, shipping papers must identify the shipper by the same name as Registered with PERS and/or the customer number issued by PERS. (We recommend that each shipping paper identify both the shipper by name as registered with PERS and the customer number issued by PERS.)

The PERS emergency response telephone numbers may be used only for hazardous materials for which PERS has been provided appropriate SDS documents, which may serve as emergency response information in the event of an emergency involving the hazardous material.

Section 3 - Emergency Response Information

No person to whom Subpart G - Emergency Response Information applies may offer for transportation, accept for transportation, transfer, store or otherwise handle during transportation a hazardous material unless:

Emergency response information conforming to the requirements of §172.602 is immediately available for use at all times the hazardous material is present; and

Emergency response information, including the emergency response telephone number, required by §172.604 is immediately available to any person who, as a representative of a Federal, State or local government agency, responds to an incident involving a hazardous material, or is conducting an investigation which involves a hazardous material.

In the event of an emergency, PERS will, upon request, provide emergency response and incident mitigation information, which may be provided in the form of either the ERG Guide Page appropriate for the material, the appropriate SDS for the material, or both. Emergency response information will be emailed or faxed as requested, or may otherwise be provided verbally to the caller.

As required by §172.604, the person who is registered with the ERI provider must ensure that the agency or organization has received current information on the material before it is offered for transportation supplied by the Registrant for use in the event of emergencies involving its product(s).

PERS will be unable to locate a correct SDS in your document list if the file is not sufficiently named.

PERS uses a language translation service for Non-English speaking callers as needed. The caller must be able to identify their preferred language to the emergency response staff member.

Section 4 - Reusable, Laminated Shipping Papers for Private Carriers

For registered private carriers only, PERS makes available reusable, laminated shipping papers that, when used correctly, comply with the shipping paper requirements of the hazardous materials regulations (HMR), Part 172, Subpart C. PERS laminated reusable shipping papers are only authorized for use by registered companies on their own vehicles when transporting hazardous materials by highway.

Up to five laminated shipping papers are available on an annual basis at no cost per each account (primary registration). Under certain circumstances, this benefit may not be available. Each additional shipping paper ordered above five will be billed at the price specified in the PERS catalog, based on quantity, at the time of purchase. Custom rates may apply.

Section 5 - Non-Emergency Calls

Non-Emergencies: PERS will not serve as a means to contact Registrants in non-emergency situations. The Registrant must identify its own telephone number for non-emergency calls or consider using an answering service or other third party for this purpose. For SDS Fulfillment and Management services and pricing, please contact us.

Other entities not involved with the shipment or transportation of hazardous materials may register with PERS for authorized use of its emergency response telephone numbers for specific purposes as approved by PERS. Contact us with any inquiries.

Section 6 - Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

The Registrant is required to submit one copy of SDS(s) for the hazardous materials they ship, prior to any shipment taking place. The Registrant is responsible for ensuring that all SDS are up to date (most current version), including changes to existing documents and new products.

You may submit SDS documents in the following ways:

ONLINE: You may submit named SDS documents by logging into your PERS account and following the prescribed process of viewing, adding and deleting documents to and from your account.

EMAIL: You may email named SDS documents to msdssubmit@pers-er.com. If you have multiple documents to submit we prefer to receive multiple documents attached to a single email. We can receive up to 10MB in a single email; this may be quite a large number of documents dependent on document size.

MAIL: You may mail your named SDS documents on a disc or flash drive. Mail to: PERS, SDS Processing, PO Box 1560, Ogden, UT 84402-1560. Discs and flash drives will not be returned to the sender.

When emailed or mailed, PERS must receive SDS submissions at least 24 hours in advance of shipment; this allows sufficient time for processing of document(s) to your profile. If you log into your account online and add the SDS to your document list, you may ship the material immediately after successfully adding the document(s) to your profile.

Only one copy of each current SDS should be posted to your account. Do not post multiple versions of SDS for the same product. SDS documents that are submitted to PERS must already be named in an appropriate way that they will be effectively searchable in the event of an emergency. We recommend the following naming convention:

Name of Supplier | Product Name | Product Code and/or SDS Number | Version Date

EXAMPLE: Flash Fluids Inc - Amazing Cleaning Solvent - Product #246810 - Jan 2014.pdf

Due to the large number of documents that we receive it is not possible for PERS to re-name your documents; unnamed documents will not be processed to your account.

We prefer to receive documents in pdf format. We also accept Word (.doc), and Word (.docx). Use of symbols in file names may create accessibility problems.

Alternative to submitting SDS documents to PERS, subject to our approval, a registrant may provide access to SDS documents through a reliable webpage. Contact PERS for specific requirements for this provision, we have to test this function for effectiveness prior to approval.

Keep in mind that documents that are scanned or created at a high resolution may be substantially oversized. Many excellent quality SDS’s will be less than 100 KB (kilobytes). Some SDS documents are oversized and are 1MB (megabyte) or larger.

Smaller documents pose fewer accessibility problems and delays in downloading to devices for persons needing immediate access to an SDS. Poor quality documents that contain marks, spots and other anomalous defects may also scan at a higher than desired size. Original PDF versions of the SDS from the supplier are preferred.

Section 7 - Association of SDS to Descriptions on Shipping Papers

In accordance with §172.201(a)(4); A shipping paper may contain additional information concerning the material provided the information is not inconsistent with the required description. Unless otherwise permitted or required by this subpart, additional information must be placed after the basic description required by §172.202(a).

Entering the trade name, product number and/or SDS number in an appropriate manner after each required shipping description on your HM shipping paper will help facilitate prompt access to the SDS document within your account in the event of an emergency. It is the responsibility of the Registrant to assure SDS documents are appropriately named and additional information is included on shipping papers, as necessary, to allow PERS to associate the correct SDS document to the hazardous material being shipped.

Section 8 - Online Account Access

PERS Registrants will be granted password protected online account access. Correspondence contacts may grant access/access levels to their employees. See user's guide.

Registrants may log into and edit their account information or contact PERS by email or telephone to request changes.

Registrants must maintain accurate information in their account. prompt access to the correct properly named SDS document within your account in the event of an emergency.

Registrants may grant permission-based account access to other users within their organization.

When logged in, registrants will be able to view, add, and remove SDS documents to/from their account.

Section 9- Use of Email Addresses

We will use the email address specified for your designated correspondence contact in your PERS account to send notification about the status of your account (renewal notices, etc.). In addition, we may email our newsletter, compliance bulletins, and updates on PERS products and services. You may contact us to opt-out of receiving such emails.

Section 10 - PERS Customer Number and Renewal Notifications

PERS will provide to each Registrant a customer number and renewal date for their account. Accounts are renewable annually. Renewal notices are sent 60 and 30 days prior to account expiration via email for the first notice, email and mail for the second. Customers may request us to "Always Mail" renewal notifications. Accounts that are not renewed by the renewal date will no longer be authorized to use the PERS emergency response information telephone numbers until the account has been renewed or reactivated.

Section 11 - PERS Finance Policy

PERS extends credit as a courtesy to our customers. Our payment terms are due upon receipt. After 30 days, an invoice is considered outstanding. After 45 days, finance charges equal to 10% of the balance due will be added to your balance due. Finance charges will continue to accumulate every 30 days until the balance, including finance charges, is paid in full. In the event a payment is returned by the bank, a fee of $35.00 will be charged.

Should you have questions, please contact PERS at 800-728-2482

or click here to contact us online.

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