The new British dangerous goods transport regulations have prompted a major review of inventories and supply chain practices, says the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
Introduced earlier this year as part of the European harmonisation of dangerous goods transport regulations, the new rules abolish key concessions for certain consumer commodities and retail distribution activities. As such the movement of DIY and hardware goods have been particularly affected.
“These new requirements are massively complex to apply in practice and offer little or no safety gain,” explains John Hix, FTA’s Dangerous Goods Consultancy general manager. “Many retail distributors and their logistics partners have had to undertake a detailed and time-consuming review of their inventories and practices just to see how they stand. For some, stock replenishment in package configurations other than the manufacturers original packaging will not be a viable option.”
As a direct result of the abolition of important package size thresholds, the quantity of goods such as certain paint strippers, roof sealants and lighter refills count towards the threshold above which the full force of the dangerous goods regulations apply. The threshold varies depending on the goods, but may typically be 333kg or litres.
Items such as gloss paints, aerosols and adhesives – known as ‘dangerous goods in limited quantities’ – which are split from their original packaging for final delivery, are also affected by the new rules.
Tote/pallet boxes containing such items are subject to a special marking requirement if there are more than 30kg of any one such product line or more than 333kg in total of such items on the vehicle.
