What to do if there is a chemical or industrial leak

Official updatesLU-Alert · RTL, 100.7 · 112

Do this now

Go inside the nearest solid building at once if you are told to shelter, or if you see a cloud or smell gas or smoke. If you are outside and cannot get indoors, move away across the wind, not with it, and towards higher ground.
Close every door and window, and the shutters too. Switch off the ventilation, the air conditioning, the cooker hood and any fans.
Go to a room upstairs, inside the building, with as few windows as possible. Most toxic gases are heavier than air and collect low down, so stay out of the cellar.
Seal the gaps around the doors, windows and vents with tape, plastic sheeting or wet towels.
Put out every flame: no cigarettes, candles or gas cooker. If the air smells or stings, breathe through a damp cloth.
Switch on a battery or car radio and tune to Status: Verified, and watch for LU-Alert messages. Keep the phone lines free: call Status: Verified only if someone is hurt or ill.
Stay inside until the authorities say it is over, even if the smell fades. If the leak is inside your own building, leave the building instead.

Some industrial sites in and near Luxembourg handle dangerous substances. The official guide points to seveso.lu for information on industrial risk. Check whether your home, work or school is close to such a site.
Note in your household plan any factory, depot or petrol station near your home.
Learn now how to switch off the ventilation at home and at work. In a flat, ask the building manager how the central system is stopped.
Learn the siren signals on Siren is sounding. The alarm signal means go inside a sturdy building and close the doors and windows.

Wide tape, plastic sheeting or foil, and old towels, kept in the room you would shelter in.
The usual kit: water, food, torch, radio, power bank and medicines, as listed on the emergency kit checklist. Water: Status: Verified per person per day, for Status: Verified.

Agree that nobody goes out to fetch the children. Schools have their own plan and keep pupils safe inside.
Agree how you will reach each other by text message instead of calls.

When the authorities say it is over, open the windows and doors and air the whole home.
If you were outside in the cloud, take off your outer clothes before you go in, and put them in a sealed bag. Do not touch your face. Wash your hands first, then your face, then shower.
Do not eat garden vegetables or fruit, or food left outside, until the authorities say it is safe.
Wait for official instructions before you go to a hospital or a doctor's surgery yourself. Call Status: Verified if someone has trouble breathing.
If you still feel shaken afterwards, talk to someone you trust. See Coping with a crisis.

Explain calmly why the windows stay shut and why you cannot go out. Give children a book or a game while they wait.
If they are at school, leave them there and follow the school's messages.

If you have a lung or heart condition, keep your medicines and inhaler in the room where you shelter.
Agree with a neighbour now who closes the windows and switches off the ventilation if you cannot do it quickly.

Bring pets inside only if you can do it at once. Do not go out to look for them once the air is unsafe.

Heavy gases collect low down. Stay upstairs, keep out of the cellar and underground car park, and seal your windows and vents.