Copyright (c) 2012 Alison Withers
The transport of hazardous goods is regulated by EU-wide legislation because it has become increasingly the case that substances may be transported across several national borders.
The Agreement on the control of dangerous or hazardous substances is called the ADR, an abbreviation of Accord Dangereuse Routiers.
In addition every member state of the EU also has its own regulations, although these are increasingly being harmonised with the EU-wide rules.
In the UK the Department for Transport has the responsibility for oversight and enforcement of the legislation and in the case of transport by road and rail particularly is supported and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and for some provisions by the police and the UK's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) traffic examiners.
The HSE defines hazardous goods as liquid or solid substances and articles containing them, that have been tested and assessed against internationally-agreed criteria - a process called classification - and considered to be potentially dangerous (hazardous) when carried.
Of primary importance is public safety and there are several particularly important aspects to the regulations. These are the vehicles being used and the labelling they should carry depending on the substance, the training and licensing of drivers of vehicles being used in hazardous goods transport and the assessment the risks involved in the roads and routes that may be used to convey each consignment.
Under the UK legislation, called Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, everyone who will be involved in planning the carriage of a consignment of hazardous loads is required to have proper training from an approved DfT trainer and hold a VTC, or ADR, certificate.
A detailed and comprehensive risk assessment must be carried out, covering the chemical and physical properties of each substance involved, including risk of fire, explosions and the release of toxic gas or volatile toxic liquids.
Types of potential accident are broken down into equally detailed classifications including vehicle collisions, collisions with animals or static objects such as bridges, a tanker overturning, a tanker failing, fire breaking out.
The consequences of any potential incident are looked at for the individuals directly involved and for the wider public who may be in the vicinity if something were to go worng.
Last but not least every aspect of the proposed route and any alternatives is considered with particular attention paid to bridges, tunnels, speed limits, traffic flows and types of traffic typically using them.
Modelling covering several different scenarios on different roads includes proximity of the nearest emergency services, the population density on the route, the topography and the possible atmospheric conditions.
ADR transport is a complex and potentially dangerous process and therefore should be handled by specialist transport companies that are well-versed in the process as the preferred contractors for work of this type.
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Dangerous substances are moved around countries and between them by adr transport under EU-wide legislation. By Ali Withers. http://www.rpdistribution.co.uk/dangerous-hazardous-goods.asp
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