KEVIN MAYHEW THE ROAD Traffic Inspectorate of KwaZulu-Natal instituted 121 dangerous goods-related prosecutions between December and mid-January this year, which indicates that there is still an unacceptable level of potential infringement, according to the manager of the inspectorate, John Schnell. Schnell said that he was satisfied that his staff had been adequately trained and were certificated to correctly police dangerous goods transportation through the province, which includes the principal cargo corridor between Gauteng and Durban. In many cases the problems were attributable to the haulier not displaying the correct placard that identifies the classification of the dangerous goods. “I believe that the people we appoint to enforce the legislation have adequate knowledge of the law to make the right roadside decision about prosecution,” he said. All his inspectorate personnel involved in policing have been trained and have certificates to that effect. Companies involved in transportation have complained that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the new dangerous goods handling legislation, which leads to unacceptable delays and prosecutions. Schnell said there was a responsibility on the part of industry to help out the emergency services along the main transport routes by making sure that they knew where to find qualified personnel and medical services to handle an accident while in transit. This extended to simple things like acquainting themselves with hospitals on the routes they use that could handle casualties from a toxic spill. “Companies need to make certain that they can also help us and smaller towns’ emergency services to take the correct action in the event of an accident or spillage. Bigger haulage operators undertake roadshows to authorities to inform them of handling procedures in the event of handling new types of dangerous goods,” he said.
