New standards are progressing slowly
Alan Peat
THE STANDARDS behind the new dangerous goods legislation introduced last August are progressing nicely Ð if a trifle slowly Ð but enforcement of the already published standards is utterly non-existent, according to Barney Curtis, who handles technical and regulatory affairs for the Road Freight Association (RFA).
"The road transport industry has been sensitised to the new regulations," he told FTW, "but quite a lot of them are not operating as required."
In addition there are no dangerous goods facilitators in the country's traffic police forces, and no enforcement to pressure the lawbreaking truckers into complying.
The standards being compiled by the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) are progressing, with 15 standards already published and others in the pipeline.
But six of those are now into a revision stage, with only three of these restructured standards due out soon.
Of these imminent revisions, SABS 1518 (design requirements for vehicles) is the one with the most changes.
It is to have the related standard SABS 1398 (road tank vehicles for petroleum-based flammable liquids) incorporated into it.
But, Elmarie Steyn of SABS told FTW, 1518 has now been split into three, "and it is changing quite a lot."
SABS 1518-3 (design for portable tanks) has already been published, but 1581-2 (design for tankers for flammable liquids) and 1518-1 (design applicable to all vehicles) are still under preparation.
"Both of these are in preparation for distribution as a DSS and are due soon," Steyn added.
SABS 0228 (identification and classification of dangerous substances and goods) is in the same stage of preparation and also due to be going out soon.
But SABS 0229 (the packaging for road and rail transportation), SABS 0263 (warehousing of dangerous goods), SABS 0231 (operational requirements for road vehicles) and SABS 0232-2 (emergency information system for rail transportation) have some way to go, the first two being the most tardy.
There are two areas of most concern to road transporters in these delayed revisions, according to Curtis. The first is the tremcard, the card that the driver must carry, and which details the emergency response for his cargo. The second is the delay in putting out a PrDP (D) - Professional Driving Permit (Dangerous).
"These are issues at the moment," said Curtis.
