2020 Emergency Response Guidebook: desktop software

The 2020 Emergency Response Guidebook software (known as CANUTEC’s ERGO 2020) is now available to download for free.

The program’s interface was designed to look and feel like the physical guidebook. So if you’re already familiar with the Emergency Response Guidebook, the software should be easy for you to navigate.

On this page

Operating requirements

  • Ideally your PC should be running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, although other versions of Windows might also work
  • The file is 24 MB

Software requirements

Install ERGO 2020 on your computer

  • Download the English version of ERGO 2020
  • Save the setup file in a temporary place on your hard drive (usually your Desktop or Download folder)
  • Run “ERG_Setup.msi” by double-clicking on the icon in the temporary directory
  • Follow the instructions that appear on your screen

Run ERGO 2020 on your computer

  • To run ERGO 2020, click the "Start" button in the bottom left corner of your screen
  • Choose “ERGO 2020” from the list of programs
  • The program will open and start running

How to use the features of ERGO 2020

Language settings

You can use either an English, French or Spanish interface in ERGO 2020.

To set your default language:

  • Select "Language" from the menu, and choose the language you’d like to use
  • Then click on "Language" again, and select "Set default language"

You can switch to another language at any time by selecting "Language" from the menu, and choosing another language.

The next time you use the program it will open with the default language you chose earlier.

Unit settings

To set your default unit settings for distances:

  • Select "Units" from the menu, and choose "Imperial" or "Metric"
  • Then click on "Units" again, and select "Set default"

You can switch to another unit of measurement at any time by selecting "Units" from the menu, and choosing another unit. You can also click the “Metric” or “Imperial” link in the toolbar to toggle between units. The next time you use the program it will open with the default distance unit you chose earlier.

Navigating the program

There are two ways to navigate the software

  • using toolbar icons, or
  • using tabs

Both options include tips that pop-up over different features. These tips will explain the features and help you use the program.

You can use the search box (top left corner) to look for:

  • the name of a material, or
  • an ID number, also known as a UN number

To search for an ID number:

  • Type the 4-digit number (for example: 1202 not UN1202) to the search box
  • Your search results will appear in a tab, and the total number of results will be shown at the bottom of your screen

To search for the name of a material:

  • Begin typing the material name into the search box
  • As you type, possible search results will appear
  • The longer the search term (or partial search term) you enter, the better your search results will be
  • Your search results will appear in a tab, and the total number of results will be shown at the bottom of your screen

Note: you must include accented characters (like é or ñ) when searching the French or Spanish versions of the software.

You can perform a search from any tab when the search box is white. If the search box is grey, the search feature isn’t available.

You can switch from the ID number Index (yellow list) to the Name of Material Index (blue list) by clicking on the yellow and blue book icons in the toolbar at any time.

Once you’ve run a search, results will appear under the following tabs:

  • Search Results
  • Emergency Response Guides
  • TIIPAD
  • Water Reactive, or
  • Chemical Warfare

If your search returned no results related to these topics, you’ll get a message and be returned to the Search Results tab. If you click the "Emergency Response Guides" tab, a list of guides will appear on the left of the screen.

If you’re looking for more than one material or guide pages, or if you only have part of a material name, use an Advanced Search.

To perform an Advanced search:

  • Select "Advanced search" near the toolbar icons, a search box will appear to the left
  • Enter your search terms (either a guide number, an ID number or part of a material’s name)
  • Under "In", choose “Name of Material”, “Guide No.” or “ID No.” from the drop down list
  • Select the operator (or/and)
    • Using the operator "OR" means the search can match any term you enter
      • So searching for "oxygen" OR "compressed" will give you every entry that includes either the words "oxygen" or "compressed"
    • Using the operator "AND" means the search must match all terms you enter
      • So searching for "oxygen" AND "Compressed" will give you the names of all materials that include both these words
    • To run your search, click on the "Add" button or press Enter
    • The search terms that you’ve entered are shown in the space below the "Add" and “Clear” buttons
    • Repeat these steps until you’ve added all your search terms
    • See your search results by navigating between tabs

Note: you must include accented characters (like é or ñ) when searching the French or Spanish versions of the software.

Your results will appear in the Search Results tab, and the total number of results will be shown at the bottom of your screen.

You can switch from the ID number Index (yellow list) to the Name of Material Index (blue list) by clicking on the yellow and blue book icons in the toolbar at any time.

Once you’ve run a search, results will appear under the following tabs:

  • Search Results
  • Emergency Response Guides
  • TIIPAD
  • Water Reactive, or
  • Chemical Warfare

If your search returned no results related to these topics, you’ll get a message and be returned to the Search Results tab. If you click the tab "Emergency Response Guides", a list of guides that match your search criteria will be displayed on the left of the screen.

When the “Emergency Response Guides” tab is selected, the "Advanced Search" window will disappear and the advanced search link in the top navigation can’t be selected. If you want to perform another advanced search click on the "Search Results" tab. The advanced search link will be active again, and your original search criteria will appear in the advanced search box.

To see a complete list of materials or guides under the related tabs, select "Show All".

Show all

Displays a full list of materials or emergency response guides. Choosing "Show all" will clear all search terms from the advanced search window.

Search results tab

This tab lists search results or the ID Number Index (yellow list) or the Name of Material Index (blue list) depending on which toolbar icon you chose (yellow or blue book icons).

ID Number Index tab

This is the index of Dangerous Goods as they appear in the yellow section of the guidebook, sorted by ID Number. The guide page (orange section) for each material can be accessed by double-clicking an item. You can also reach this tab by clicking on the yellow book icon in the top menu.

Any materials that have a special hazard will be highlighted in green, and the specific hazard will appear in the far right column with an icon:

Type of hazard

Icon

Toxic inhalation hazard

Toxic inhalation hazard icon

Water reactive material

Water reactive material icon

Chemical warfare agent

Chemical warfare agent

Materials that have a polymerization hazard will have the letter "P" following the guide page number.

Name of Material Index tab

This is the index of dangerous goods as they appear in the blue section of the guidebook, sorted by name of material. You can access each material’s guide page (orange section) by double-clicking an item. You can also reach this tab by clicking on the blue book icon in the top menu.

Any materials that have a special hazard will be highlighted in green, and the specific hazard is will appear in the far right column with an icon:

Type of hazard

Icon

Toxic inhalation hazard

Toxic inhalation hazard icon

Water reactive material

Water reactive material icon

Chemical warfare agent

Chemical warfare agent

Materials that have a polymerization hazard will have the letter "P" following the guide page number.

When an item with special hazards is double-clicked, the program may ask for, or give you, more information.

  • For a toxic inhalation hazard or chemical warfare agent, an extract of the Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances (TIIPAD) will appear as a green header at the top of the guide page (orange section)
  • For a water reactive material, a pop-up will ask if the material has been spilled in water, if you answer "yes", a pop-up will warns you about the toxic gas(es) produced
    • When you click "OK", an extract of the Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances (TIIPAD) will appear as a green header at the top of the guide page that will list the gas(es) generated in a white box under "Gas(es) Produced When Spilled in Water"
  • For a polymerization hazard, a warning box will pop-up

Table of Contents tab

This tab includes all the text sections from the guidebook (white pages). You can jump to different sections by clicking on the linked section titles.

Placards tab

Choose the placards or silhouettes page by clicking on the thumbnail images in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Mousing-over a placard will make it bigger. Double-clicking on an image will open the guide referenced by the placard or silhouette.

You can also reach this tab by clicking on the placard, rail car or road trailer icons in the top menu.

Emergency Response Guides tab

Use this tab to access a list of all emergency response guides. Choose one by clicking the guide number in the left-hand column. You can also reach this tab by clicking on the orange book icon in the top menu.

Note: If there’s text in the search box or in the advanced search box, the results that appear will relate to those search terms. To see a list of all the guides, click on "Show All" in the top menu bar or the "Clear" button in the advanced search panel.

The guides are in the same format as the guidebook and can be printed by going to the File menu, and selecting “Print”.

If a guide page was chosen from an index or search results, the name of the material with its ID number will appear in plain text below the guide’s title. If a material poses a serious threat of toxicity by inhalation, information on its initial isolation and protective action distance will appear as a green header.

TIIPAD tab

This tab shows the Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances (TIIPAD) for materials that have a toxic inhalation hazard, are water reactive materials, or chemical warfare agents. You can also reach this tab by clicking on the skull and crossbones icon in the top menu.

In this list:

  • water reactive materials will have "when spilled in water"
  • chemical warfare agents will have "when used as a weapon", and
  • materials with toxic inhalation hazard will have no note, or will have "when spilled on land" if they’re are also water reactive

This table includes information not available from other tabs. By mousing over the heading "Small Spills" or "Large Spills", you’ll find a definition for these spill sizes. If you click on "First ISOLATE in all Directions" or "Then PROTECT Persons Downwind During", a graphic for these spill response actions will pop-up.

Water reactive tab

This tab lists the names of water reactive materials that create one or more toxic gases when spilled in water. The names of the toxic gases generated will appear in a column beside the name of each material. You can also reach this tab by clicking on the water droplet icon in the top menu.

For a water reactive material, a pop-up will ask if the material has been spilled in water, if you answer "yes", a pop-up will warns you about the toxic gas(es) produced. When you click "OK", an extract of the Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances (TIIPAD) will appear as a green header at the top of the guide page that will list the gas(es) generated in a white box under "Gas(es) Produced When Spilled in Water".

You should check the initial isolation and protective action distances (IIPAD) for the material itself (when spilled in water) and not the distances for the gas(es) generated. This is because the distances for the generated gases were already taken into consideration when calculating the distances for the water reactive material.

Common TIH tab (Table 3)

This tab shows the distances of initial isolation and protective action for large spills of 6 common toxic inhalation hazard products. To see the distances for one of these products, use the drop-down list and choose a product’s UN Number.

If you click on "First ISOLATE in all Directions" or "Then PROTECT Persons Downwind During", a graphic for these spill response actions will pop-up.

Clicking the “Back to Emergency Response Guide” button will display an extract of the Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances (TIIPAD) as a green header at the top of the guide page (orange section).

You can also reach this tab by clicking on the “T3” icon in the top menu.

Chemical warfare tab

This tab lists the names of all chemical warfare agents listed in the guidebook. You can access each material’s guide page (orange section) by double-clicking an item.

You can also reach this tab by clicking on the gas mask icon in the top menu.

History tab

The history tab lists every product you’ve visited, so you can revisit these pages more easily. Your browsing history will be recorded until you clear it.

To delete an item from your browsing history:

  • Right-click an item, and choose the “Delete” button that appears

To clear your entire browsing history:

  • Right-click the word “History” at the top of the list, choose the “Delete all?” button that appears

Disclaimer

To the best of our knowledge, this software is problem-free and relies strictly on the information contained in the 2020 Emergency Response Guidebook. The software may or may not include officially published errata (corrections), depending on the version you downloaded. That being said, ERGO 2020 is not meant to replace the guidebook.

In an emergency, information in the software should be checked against a printed copy of the Emergency Response Guidebook 2020.

Questions

If you have questions about this software, please contact CANUTEC:

Phone: 613-992-4624
Fax: 613-954-5101
E-mail: canutec@tc.gc.ca

Mail:
CANUTEC
Office 1403 - 330 Sparks Street
Place de Ville, Tower C
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N5

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