This Manual deals with incidents involving Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) and acts as a training course to provide participating trainees with sufficient knowledge on; preparedness and response to marine Hazardous Noxious Substance (HNS) incidents. In order to respond to incidents involving HNS promptly and properly, training should be conducted periodically and in accordance with this Manual.

Concern regarding the handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes is growing, as is the need to develop appropriate hazardous waste management strategies. Questions are being asked about suitable actions and available options. Emphasis is on the need for information and adequate management plans, and is prompted by recognition and better understanding of the threats and costs posed by such wastes in terms of human health, welfare, natural resources and the environment; exponential increase in waste volumes produced; increasingly limited availability of disposal locations; a growing awareness of the transboundary nature of pollution; and the emergence of an inadequately regulated transboundary trade in highly toxic waste material.

In the review of the Chemical Industry and the Environment, the issue of risk management and accident prevention was identified as one of the major areas on which attention should be focused and at the UNEP Workshop on Environmental Aspects of the Chemical Industry, held in Geneva from 22 to 25 May 1979, one of the Workgroups addressed this issue. The Workshop endorsed the need for concise and pragmatic advice on the measures needed to manage risk and reduce/prevent accidents in the manufacture of chemicals. The Guidelines are primarily on the industrial and technological process aspects of the chemical industry. They identify the major issues which need consideration when formulating strategies and policies and therefore endeavour to act as a catalyst for further detailed institutional, administrative and technical measures needed for the effective management of risk and prevention of accidents in the manufacture of chemicals.