WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18989 [post_author] => 34 [post_date] => 2020-04-02 08:53:09 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-04-02 07:53:09 [post_content] =>

The British Association of Dangerous Goods Professionals (BADGP) held its 2020 AGM and annual seminar this past 12 March. With the coronavirus epidemic beginning to spread, there were several apologies for absence, although some 80 members made the trip to the Windmill Village Hotel in Coventry to hear what the presenters had to say before the lockdown, in support of BADGP’s mission to provide information and guidance to all those involved in the transport of dangerous goods by road, rail, sea and air.

It was appropriate, therefore, that the seminar began with a presentation from Helen North, head of frameworks and engagement at the Dangerous Goods Division of the UK Department for Transport (DfT), highlighting upcoming regulatory changes. Helen’s team includes engineers and researchers who engage with industry and who guide domestic transport legislation. All team members are now required to qualify as Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers (DGSAs). 

Helen’s team is also responsible for negotiating at international meetings on behalf of the UK. She noted that, of the 267 papers submitted to the UN Sub-committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG), WP15 and other bodies, 32 – or 12 per cent – were submitted by the UK.

Helen reassured the audience that the UK will maintain the status quo ante as regards the application of ADR after Brexit; however, there will need to be some technical updates to UK legislation. These are scheduled to appear in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

LOOKING AFTER BREXIT

One example of the changes that will be needed regards the marking of UK-manufactured transportation pressure equipment. Post-Brexit, the UK will no longer be able to use the EU’s ‘pi’ mark, mandated under the Transportable Pressure Equipment Directive (TPED). A UK equivalent mark will be needed: it has been suggested that the UK uses the next letter in the Greek alphabet after pi, rho – though rumours that this suggestion came from Roh Hathlia, head of the Dangerous Goods Division, remain unconfirmed.

After the Brexit process is complete, the UK will not have automatic access to the European Commission, so a new CDG (Derogation) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 will be needed to enable the UK to apply to the Commission for approved derogations from ADR. It is intended that all derogations will be time-limited. One item on the agenda will be temporary derogations to help deal with the shortage of drivers as a result of Covid-19 during the Brexit transition period, to maintain essential supplies and help clear hospitals of medical waste.

Helen acknowledged that industry is faced with difficulties in interpreting the various amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods etc Regulations (CDG). DfT is aiming to consolidate these amendments as far as practicable and a wholesale review of CDG is planned, which will include DfT guidance documents, based on consultation with industry. She urged transport operators to respond to this consultation to ensure that the changes meet the needs of industry.

This programme of review will include the work done by DGSAs. Assistance and guidance for new DGSAs is being considered, as is an audit of annual DGSA reports, and it is possible that DGSAs will be asked to provide examples of their annual reports for a review of standards.

Alongside the legal work, the Division’s engineering team works with EU partners on long-term research projects. One such project is a study to improve the design and non-destructive testing of road tanks to improve accident damage resistance and to prevent boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs). A related study examines the current effectiveness of the regulations in maintaining agreed ADR standards in tank, tank vehicle and pressure cylinder manufacture and certification. Member states have also raised 25 issues of concern regarding design and use of vacuum operated waste tank vehicles, making a review of Chapter 6.10 of ADR a top priority.

STAY SECURE

Angus Preville of DfT’s Land Transport Security Division, which is responsible for inspection and compliance of site transport security planning, Angus reminded the audience of the lethal terrorist events in the UK recently, and that the current risk level is at ‘substantial’. The purpose of site security plans is to deny terrorists access to dangerous goods, preventing them from being used as weapons.

Site security inspections take place every three to four years, although this is expected to reduce to two to three years soon. Angus explained the stepped approach to compliance, starting with guidance and advice but with the potential of prosecution of facilities that refuse to implement appropriate preventative measures.

Key aspects of good security include pre-employment checks, not relying on personal recommendations, leaver checks – insistence on returning keys and branded safety equipment - and changing codes regularly. Security training for drivers should be in addition to the five-yearly driver training and depot staff must be included, and training should be recorded.

Angus noted that site inspections reveal some common security lapses: out-of-date plans; a lack of recorded of changes of personnel and contacts; missing dangerous goods information; and security risk assessments that focus on issues at the main site while ignoring subsidiary facilities and the road transport between them.

Angus reminded the audience that the DfT website provides security plan guidance, checklists and training resources, and that first-hand help can be obtained from Counter Terrorism Safety Advisers (CTSAs) in the local police forces.

A DGSA IN PORTUGAL

An external view of the dangerous goods business was provided by two speakers from Portugal: trainer João Cezília and José Alberto Franco, former chair of WP15. It was Portugal’s ratification of the ADR Agreement in December 1967 that provided the requisite number of signatories to allow it to enter into force across Europe, which it did in 1968, and Portugal held the chair of WP15, the body that oversees the development of ADR, from 1995 to 2018, so the country has had an important role. Under its chairmanship, WP15 achieved the major restructuring of ADR in 2001 and the harmonisation of the limited quantity provisions in 2011.

Portugal’s DGSAs reorganised themselves in 2016 and joined the multi-agency Safety/Security Association of Portugal (APSEI), whose membership includes government agencies, road transport firms and trade unions, to create a group dedicated to the promotion of safety in the transport of dangerous goods. APSEI is currently in the process of joining the European Association of Safety Advisers (EASA).

In Portugal, DGSA training for ADR is carried out by three government-authorised companies, and there is one for rail transport. Candidates attend mandatory training and examinations are held monthly. In 2019, 100 new DGSAs were certified and 141 were re-certified. All companies with a DGSA must be registered; at the end of 2019 there were 1,634 such companies and 984 certified DGSAs.

Portugal has a specific format for the DGSA annual report; this must identify the name of the DGSA, the type of activities carried out by the company, the classes of dangerous goods moved, loaded and unloaded, the quantities of bulk and packaged dangerous goods, the personnel involved, the number of vehicles, wagons and containers, company procedures, any incidents, and the identity of sub-contractors.

The annual report is currently held by the originating company but APSEI has proposed the creation of an electronic version to allow reports to be submitted to a central body for statistical analysis.

João pointed out that Portugal still has a big influence at WP15; it was Portugal that proposed to drop the word ‘European’ from the title of the ADR Agreement, to open it up to states from around the world. Although that move had been resisted by some European governments for ten years, this time the idea found favour and it was ratified by a Conference of Parties in May 2019; the change will take place with the 2021 edition.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

An engaging presentation introduced the audience to Curium SA, a specialist in dealing with high-risk transport of waste dangerous goods. Clara Schaad and Billy Pasquier described the support that Curium can provide through its international team of highly qualified and experienced consultant gas and chemical engineers currently operating in Europe, China and Africa. The service can provide technical and legal advice from R&D through production to transport.

Billy, based in France, manages gas and emergency response projects and described Curium’s role in the French Transaid emergency network. In France Curium provides 24/7 level 1, 2 and 3 response including roadside dangerous goods assistance to national emergency responders. Its forte is repackaging and removing spilled chemicals, and includes mobile gas liquefaction equipment used to empty gas tankers immobilised in road traffic incidents.

Billy described how Curium deals with interesting waste recovery and clean-up operations that require very high levels of skill and chemical expertise, including removal of an ancient dump of white phosphorus shells found in Italy. But surely the most bizarre recovery operation anywhere was the removal of two tonnes of lithium found floating inside a huge metal ball off a beach in the south of England.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

The day’s final presentation came from Michael Yarwood, managing director of the TT Club’s loss prevention department, who spoke about the MSC Flaminia incident and its impact on the dangerous goods regulations. This incident has been written about at length in these pages but, for a brief recap: the containership MSC Flaminia sailed from New Orleans for Europe in June 2012; smoke was seen coming from a cargo hold, which subsequently suffered an explosion that killed three crew; fire took hold, burning for many weeks while the ship drifted in the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, after years of claims and counter-claims, a New York court has determined that the explosion was caused by the auto-polymerisation of divinyl benzene (DVB) shipped in tank containers below the deck. Having established the cause, the court then set about apportioning responsibility between the shipper, the forwarder, the NVOCC, the ship operator and the shipowner.

In brief, the court found that the carrier is entitled to assume that cargo offered to his ship is manufactured and packaged in a condition that would allow it to be safely delivered to an overseas destination with no danger greater than those required to be detailed in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code. Further, if such danger exists, the shipper has a common law duty of care to provide “sufficient and relevant information” to warn the carrier of that danger, and there is nothing in the IMDG Code to prevent the shipper doing so.

Subject to appeal, the shipper (Deltech) and NVOCC/tank operator (Stolt Tank Containers) have been found liable for shipowner’s and ship operator’s losses reported to be in the region of $260m.

This is a complex case and there were many decisions and actions that could have taken a different course and prevented the disaster. But the key message, Mike said, is that shippers must not only train employees to be competent, appoint competent contractors and maintain operating systems that ensue that cargo is delivered to the ship in a safe condition, the must ensure that documentation fully and accurately identifies the hazards of dangerous goods and is presented to the carrier in a manner that allows him to assess and act on that information.

The business of BADGP’s AGM also involved a change at the top. Caroline Raine announced that she was stepping down as chair of the Association and that her position would be taken by Mark Spence, an independent consultant and DGSA, formerly with Fortec Distribution and Geodis UK. Mark takes the helm as BADGP enters its second decade. Caroline will stay on as a member of the BADGP Committee and will continue her role as editor of its newsletter, a very useful source of information for all involved in the industry.

www.badgp.org

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