Truck and Track Winter 2025/26 www.truckandtrack.com 64 DANGEROUS GOODS Meaningful revisions to legislation governing the transport of dangerous goods go back 150 years to the Explosives Act of 1875. This was a consolidation of existing statutes and new rules which were introduced following an incident on the Macclesfield Canal when two barges ignited resulting in a significant explosion and four deaths. Back then, cargo was mainly carried by ships internationally and barges inland. Gradually, railways developed to become a faster and more reliable alternative to canals, and the Regulations concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by Rail (RID) were drawn up in 1893 to manage the risks posed by dangerous goods. RID was adopted by European countries as part of the Convention for the International Carriage of Goods by Rail (COTIF). In this 1924 edition, as with current regulations, products were classified, numbered and labelled according to the hazards that they posed. Some of these early label designs and symbols are like works of art. The regulations were drafted in Geneva and written in French, so the descriptions shown are literal translations. A Brief History of the Dangerous Goods Regulations Richard Shreeve, Labeline’s Compliance Manager, delves into the past IATA labels from 1964 Nos 1 & 2 Subject to Explosion No 3. Danger of Fire No 4. Poisonous Materials No 5. Caustic Materials No 7. Subject to Explosion No 8. Fear of Humidity No 9. Avoid the Open Flame Lantern No 10. Air Widely No 11. Manoeuvre with Precaution No 6. Raised Also in 1924, the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) was agreed but there was little in the way of specific requirements for the movement of dangerous goods by sea until the introduction of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code in 1965. This is now published by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and it evolved into a set of 5 ring binders, before being consolidated into the now familiar two-volume set of manuals. IMDG Code 22-84 By 1954, dangerous goods were being regularly shipped by air, and the International Air Transport Association produced the Restricted Articles Regulations – now known as the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR).
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