Dangerous Goods Transportation

Overview of security of dangerous goods in transport

Existing safety regulations

The safety of dangerous goods by all modes is already well regulated and there are good controls in place, for example, on storage, parking and training of staff involved in its handling and carriage. Those regulations address the risk of accidents involving the transport of dangerous goods. The aim is to minimise the risk of spillage and, if spillages do occur, to make it easier for the emergency services to deal with them. Further details are available on the dangerous goods safety pages .
Development of new security measures

In response to the events of 11 September 2001, the United Nations agreed proposals to enhance the security of transporting dangerous goods. These proposals have been taken forward by the international bodies responsible for the international carriage of dangerous goods by road and rail - with some small changes that were relevant to their particular modes of transport.

The European Commission has adopted the new road and rail security measures. The requirements are split into two levels: a general level applicable to the carriage of all dangerous goods and a higher level for the carriage of high consequence dangerous goods. These are defined as those which have the potential for misuse in a terrorist incident and which may, as a result, produce serious consequences such as mass casualties or mass destruction.

There are regulations to deal with the transportation of dangerous goods, the purpose of which is to protect everyone either directly involved (such as consignors or carriers), or who might become involved (such as members of the emergency services and public). Regulations place duties upon everyone involved in the carriage of dangerous goods, to ensure that they know what they have to do to minimise the risk of incidents and guarantee an effective response.

Dangerous goods are liquid or solid substances and articles containing them, that have been tested and assessed against internationally-agreed criteria - a process called classification - and found to be potentially dangerous (hazardous) when carried. Dangerous goods are assigned to different Classes[1] depending on their predominant hazard.