Chemical industry creates strict compliance demands for hauliers

ALAN PEAT A GROWING global demand – particularly from the likes of the heavy industrial powerhouse of China – is giving a valuable boost to the huge SA chemical industry. But transporting these rapidly increasing volumes of potentially dangerous products is not an easy task, according to a major road transporter. It's a highly specialised field where road haulage companies have to fulfil strict health, safety and environmental criteria - aimed at both vehicle specifications and staff and management expertise. Which means that anyone involved in the logistics and transportation of chemicals has to play by a very tight set of rules. It’s all part of the “responsible care initiative”, the road haulier told FTW, which is an international regulatory code for the handling of chemicals at each stage of usage – and was implemented in SA in 1994. And not just any trucker can put a chemical tanker on the road, he added, declare himself “responsible” – and start hauling chemical products around the country. According to the road transporter, there are on-going improvements in protecting the health and safety of the environment and people in contact with potentially hazardous chemicals – and what is termed “the SQAS assessment” is the core of applying the code conditions. This requires an officially audited report on the logistics companies – proving that the operations have the necessary physical structure and management and staff qualifications to handle the complexities of chemicals transportation. But even if these technical qualifications are met, current government policy dictates another condition that has to be fulfilled. Logistics companies focusing on business in the chemicals sector now also need to prove that they are undertaking sustainable black economic empowerment (BEE) initiatives in the sector if they intend to remain as players