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Winter 2018 Truck and Track 65
DANGEROUS GOODS
of the move to electronic data transfer, or e-freight as it is known,
for disseminating information on dangerous goods shipments.
Herman highlighted the amount of paperwork that is currently
used throughout the journey of a shipment and the number of
times that information - often the same data - is manually entered
during a journey. Apart from the obvious benefits of using paperless
systems, e-freight will avoid multiple data entry repetitions and
reduce input errors that often result in consignments being held en
route.
The current regulations already allow for electronic data transfer
instead of hard copy documents, although any system must
enable the printing of the standardised document. The first
paperless consignment of dangerous goods was recently handled
by Lufthansa Cargo in Frankfurt, using the eDGD programme
from DGOffice. DGOffice is now e-freight ready for shippers and,
eventually, this process will apply to all DG shipments, by all modes.
Available to Labeline’s clients, is a 14 day free trial to explore
the full potential of DGOffice. The software creates compliant
DG documentation for all transport modes and reduces the
likelihood of snags - wherever you are in the world. Contact
The changes…
For many delegates, the most important session of the day covered
the upcoming multimodal amendments to the dangerous goods
regulations. The Biennial Dangerous Goods Panel of experts
comprised of:
Jeff Hart, the former Head of the Dangerous Goods Division at the
DfT, is the advisor to the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council (DGAC)
on matters relating to the IMDG Code.
Geoff Leach, former Head of the Dangerous Goods Office at the
Civil Aviation Authority, current Chair of the IATA Lithium Battery
Workshops and attends the ICAO DG Panel meetings on behalf of
DGAC.
RichardMasters, DGSA, author and a charteredmember of IOSH. He
has provided high-level training in the safe handling of dangerous
goods by sea and road around the world.
Gene Sanders, from USA, has 20 years experience as a dangerous
goods trainer and consultant, a true professional with in-depth
knowledge of the regulations by all modes and the requirements
specific to the United States (49CFR).
To help the talk run smoothly, it was pre-determined which
Panel member would deliver the explanation for each of the key
amendments. After lunch, the Panel covered the changes that are
specific to each mode.
Geoff then presented a summary of the rules pertaining to lithium
batteries, the hazards posed by counterfeit products, and the
important changes that will apply to shipments of lithiumbatteries
from January 2019.
How an Incident changed the Rules…
Richard Masters and Gene Sanders discussed the major explosion
and the subsequent tragic loss of life on board the container ship,
MSC Flaminia. Gene was an expert witness at the trial that reached
its conclusion on 10th September 2018 and, although not directly
involved, Richardwasworking forMSCUKat the time. The sequence
of events that led to the incident was explained and we heard how
the tragedy triggered regulatory change, including the introduction
of new UN numbers and changes in protocols. The resulting court
case ruled that the multi-million dollar liability should be shared
between the chemical manufacturer and their carrier whilst the
shipping line and the ship owners were not liable.
Gene stayed on stage to show the anomalies, potential
Jeff Hart, Geoff Leach and Peter Mackay