Tough enforcement of new dangerous goods laws begins

Classification list to be expanded Kevin Mayhew AS THE nerve centre of much of the country’s hazardous goods consumption and production, Gauteng will be particularly affected by new legislation to be implemented in two months time. The chief executive officer of EC Logistics, Eddie Crane, said the country’s authorities were already beginning to get tough and specialist officers to police it were already in place. “It stands to reason that Gauteng will be affected because its huge industrial base is a bulk user of these products. It will require new training and skills for anybody who handles the products, from manufacturers and transporters to warehousing operators,” Crane said. The new legislation will align local standards with ADR (European) standards as a base and then be modified to meet local conditions. Last month amendments to standards related to the operational requirements for road vehicles in the transport of dangerous goods meant changes to emergency information systems and response guides for the movement of dangerous goods as well as to the driver emergency information document. Looking to further global harmonisation, the general identification and classification of dangerous goods for transport list in South Africa is being updated to include over 100 new United Nations numbers from the latest editions of the Orange Book to align the new revision of SANS10228 to the Orange Book, he added.