www.truckandtrack.com Winter 2024/25 Truck and Track 63 DANGEROUS GOODS In order to qualify as a DGSA, it is necessary to pass a series of examinations administered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Once qualified, the candidate is issued a DGSA certificate (which has a validity period of five years). ADR section 1.8.3.3 lists the main duties of the DGSA which are summarised as follows: ■ Monitoring compliance with the requirements of the regulations ■ Advising the Operator on the carriage of dangerous goods ■ Preparing an annual report detailing the dangerous goods activities of the Operator which must be retained for at least five years ■ Ensuring that systems, instructions or procedures are in place so that dangerous goods are correctly and safely packed, labelled and marked for transport accompanied by appropriate dangerous goods documentation ■ Ensuring that all persons involved are provided with appropriate training and this is formally recorded ■ Ensuring that appropriate emergency procedures are in place in the event of an incident or accident involving dangerous goods ■ To provide assistance with the investigation and reporting of any serious incidents involving dangerous goods and to ensure that corrective measures are implemented to avoid a recurrence of any such incidents ■ Ensuring systems are in place to assess and monitor any third party contractors used in the carriage of dangerous goods thus confirming any such contractors are suitably qualified and equipped for those purposes ■ Ensuring that systems are in place so that dangerous goods are packed, filled, loaded and unloaded safely within the requirements of the regulations ■ Ensuring that systems are in place for the checking of documentation and safety equipment on board vehicles and to ensure such safety equipment is fit for purpose, within service date and meets the requirements of the regulations ■ Monitoring the need for, or the implementation of, a security plan if carriage involves high consequence dangerous goods (HCDG) For any organisations involved with multimodal transport operations, it is crucial to have a detailed and thorough understanding of the various modal regulations (most commonly IMDG regulations for sea transport and IATA/ICAO regulations for air transport) and to understand how they interact with each other. Exemptions and Derogations If we concentrate on transport of dangerous goods by road within the United Kingdom, we must comply with the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 (CDG 2009) as amended, and which apply to national carriage within Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In essence, these regulations introduce ADR into the transport regulations, but they also introduce certain derogations or differences where, whilst we may wish to adopt ADR for the majority of dangerous goods activities, we are allowed to do things differently for national carriage. The most common example in CDG for national carriage is the marking of tankers using an emergency action code and contact telephone number which is not recognised in ADR. Then we have a series of approved derogations for UK national carriage by road which are as diverse as special arrangements for the carriage of alcohol in wooden casks, final stage arrangements for retail distribution and arrangements for the carriage of clinical waste amongst others. Within ADR itself, there is a whole series of exemptions or special provisions which can be blanket exemptions (limited quantities, small loads or private use exemptions for example), they can be special provisions specific to a particular UN number (carriage of UN 2794 lead acid type car batteries using special provision 598, or UN1044 fire extinguishers using special provision 594, for example). And then we have a whole series of multilateral agreements, which are normally time limited, where certain signatories to the ADR regulations get together and, with prior agreement, decide on special transport arrangements between those parties. Within the UK, there is also a series of authorisations issued via the Department for Transport which permit deviation from ADR for national carriage. They normally have a start date and an end date and are in addition to the approved derogations mentioned earlier. Further guidance can be obtained from the British Association of Dangerous Goods Professionals (BADGP). https://www.badgp.org And The Chemical Business Association (CBA) https://www.chemical.org.uk ADR 2025 Changes The salient changes are summarised below, but you must ensure your DGSA has formally reviewed your operation against the 2025 proposed changes - Driver training for limited quantities Drivers carrying dangerous goods in limited quantities by road must have a documented DG awareness training certificate (by TRUCK & TRAILER SOLUTIONS WELCOME TOALLPORTS GROUP allportsgroup.co.uk Vehicle Graphics External Signage Covid-19 H & S Signage Promotional Signage
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE1MTA=