T he European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) is due for a regulation update in January next year and, since South African regulation is aligned to this, new regulations around the transport of dangerous goods are expected to be announced next year.
“Since we do not have the expertise in South Africa, the country decided to follow European standards. We write our South African National Standard (SANS) regulations according to the ADR regulations,” said managing director of DGR Compliance Solutions, Eddie Crane, adding that the legislation was “massaged slightly” to take South African road conditions into account.
He could not provide a definitive date for implementation of the new regulations in South Africa, but said it would depend on how soon the new SANS regulations were written. Crane told FTW that there were currently 42 SANS regulations governing the road transport of dangerous goods and that the ADR in Europe was changed every two years in the odd year.
“The South African government recommends – as we do – that there is a SANS update every year,” he said. In May this year regulations for SANS 10231 and SANS 10232 were amended, revising certain operational requirements including changes to dangerous goods declarations, insurance, equipment that must be carried on the vehicle, proper packaging, and a safety dress code called Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for drivers.
“This includes the fact that vehicles carrying dangerous goods should always be travelling on a national road, unless required to do local deliveries or collections,” said Crane, who stressed the importance of training for the dangerous goods industry. “A qualified person has to be trained by a certified training provider that is accredited with both the Department of Transport and the Transport Education and Training Authority (Teta).”
He said that this training was required for a number of sectors of the industry – the operator (transporter), the consignee and consignor.
“There is different training for each sector – and there is some overlap.” Commenting on compliance for the transport sector he told FTW the problem was awareness. “Many operators (transporters) and consignors and consignees remain unaware of changing legislation but it’s critical that they take responsibility for educating themselves,” he said.
According to Crane there are “millions of insurance claims” that are not paid out every year due to noncompliance with dangerous goods regulations. “If only one of the parties does not comply, the whole claim is affected,” he cautioned.
The South African government recommends — as we do — that there is a SANS update every year. – Eddie Crane
