60 second law update: Hazchem

From 1 January 2015, businesses transporting hazardous chemicals have had to comply with the 2015 amendments to ADR regulations. The rules, a Europe-wide agreement on how dangerous goods can be safely transported by road, are updated every two years alongside similar agreements for the rail and water freight sectors.

ADR is implemented in GB law through The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 (CGD 2009) and similar regulations apply in Northern Ireland.

Although the new ADR came into force at the beginning of the year,  CGD 2009 does not need amending and the DfT has put out a call for evidence on how the changes have affected operators in order to determine their costs and benefits to the dangerous goods sector.

What are the main changes?

The 2015 amendments introduced the requirement for closed cryogenic vessels to undertake a periodic inspection every 10 years at most. The test should involve checking the container’s external condition and verifying the container and its external markings.

A number of updates to packaging requirements have been also made, including for the transport of damaged lithium ion batteries which must now be marked and packaged in accordance with new packing instructions. The packaging instructions for transformers and condensers have also been broadened.

Using intermediate bulk containers with a capacity of more than 450 litres to transport certain substances, including printing ink and adhesives, has also been prohibited.

A summary of the changes can be found on the DfT website.

What should be done to comply?

Operators should check with their dangerous goods safety adviser (DGSA) to ensure that their business is still complying with ADR.

Every operator, carrier, packer, loader and unloader involved in the transport of dangerous goods is required to appoint a DGSA. According to the HSE, those exempt from the DGSA requirement include operations that involve transporting only small loads of certain substances and businesses whose main or secondary role is not the carriage of dangerous goods. See the HSE website for more advice.

What happens if an operator does not comply with ADR?

The HSE can issue an improvement notice, which asks that an operator improves its practices by an agreed date. For more serious offences a prohibition notice can be handed out, which demands all work on particular activity cease until it is made safe.

The HSE can also take an operator to court, and the operator could be handed a fine. The HSE cannot issue fines, and all fines issued will be payable to the Treasury, but it does charge those found guilty for the time it has spent on their case- currently £124 per hour.