Lack of training perpetuates dangerous goods ignorance

THERE IS a continuing lack of awareness amongst the shipper community in general about the hazards of transporting dangerous goods by air - and the dangers of non-declaration, according to Hedley Street, m.d. of Cosmotrans, and a dangerous goods specialist on the airfreight committee of SAAFF (SA Association of Freight Forwarders) Southern Gauteng region.
The standards are all there, he added. You only need to look for the UN/ICAO (United Nations/ International Civil Aviation Organisation) specifications. It is now laid down in words of one syllable by IATA (International Air Transport Association).
But what's missing seems to be training.
The facilities are there - in numbers, said Street. But whether this proven ability to meet training needs is
met by sufficient demand, I don't think so, he added. Whether people are using them sufficiently is questionable.
Street also points to an effective policing of the rules as being another necessity.
The most logical aviation bobbies, he suggested, would be the DCA (Department of Civil Aviation).
But Malcolm Burns, the man believed to have recently taken over the aviation security role at the DCA, was not available for comment before going to press.