Truck and Track Spring 2023 www.truckandtrack.com 54 DANGEROUS GOODS This month, our Dangerous Goods columnist Ali Karim FRSC CChem, focuses on the basic legal obligations required to ensure a road distribution site remains safe and operates both legally and efficiently to manage the loading/unloading as well as storage of what we term ADR classified goods. ADR is an Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (published by the United Nations Economic Commission) to which the United Kingdom is a signatory, which brings this into UK transport law. Naturally, the principles outlined here are relevant to ADR-regulated sites looking to expand their depot footprint or commission a new operating centre, as well as logistics sites involved with non-ADR material. Environmental considerations must also be factored in – not only spillage prevention/containment but also the transitioning of road fuel as we approach ‘carbon zero’. This article will help readers and transport operators to navigate coherently the various regulations to ensure compliance. As a former company director, in concert with my colleagues, I set up a chemical logistics organisation from scratch, so I had to ensure compliance with the law. Accordingly, I also needed to ensure the wellbeing of the direct and indirect staff team and visitors, plus contractors and our neighbours. Our responsibilities also extended to the environment as well as the safety of fellow users of public highways and waterways due not only to ADR and IMDG Regulations, but also a myriad of other business legislation. The link below will help those in the sector to check their own operations are in statutory compliance, and most of the publications are downloadable as .pdfs free of charge: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/index-legal-ref.htm The Assessment of Risk Risk assessment is always the first step in providing a safe system of work (SSoW) for the operating site/depot. In order to produce a robust (and efficacious) risk assessment, it MUST be carried out by a qualified and experienced team, understanding the product’s chemical and physical properties to begin with, and relate to quantities, machinery/motive factors to manage leakage, spillage, training, environmental issues, personal protective equipment (PPE), first aid provision and managing an incident, as well as many other factors – input from your Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor/Consultant (DGSA) is vital. These links will help: https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/index.htm https://www.truckandtrack.com/Magazine/autumn2021/60/ The Safe and Legally-Compliant Transport Yard for ADR Goods by Ali Karim Ali Karim TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TOALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk
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