Transport of lithium batteries, animals part of DGR updates

Significant changes and amendments have been made to the 60th edition of Iata’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) by the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s dangerous goods panel. With the 2019-2020 edition having come into effect on January 1 this year, David Brennan, assistant director of cargo safety and standards at Iata, called on the industry to familiarise itself with the document as soon as possible and align its procedures accordingly. The airline industry standard remains the go-to document to prepare, handle or accept dangerous goods shipments by air. Speaking in Cape Town recently, Brennan said the updates encompassed new requirements for lithium batteries, as well as significant changes to the provisions for the classification of corrosive substances. “It is critical that those in the airfreight industry are aware of the

changes and amendments made to the DGR and to cargo standards as it could impact on their operations,” he said. He said that in terms of training, new recurrent training requirements were

now in place in terms of the live animal regulations. Greater emphasis had been placed on the handling and transport of venomous and/or poisonous animals. “New text has been introduced in terms of dangerous goods carried by passengers or crew,” said Brennan. “Also,

when a passenger’s carryon baggage cannot be accommodated in the cabin, the operator must verify with the passenger that the baggage does not contain dangerous goods before it is taken to the hold.” He said this was to ensure greater transparency of what was going in the cargo hold of the airplane and to avoid a pile-up of dangerous goods. The transport of lithium batteries, in particular, is of increasing concern. Brennan said amendments had also been made to the list of dangerous goods. They now include the addition of 12 new UN numbers. “UN numbers are assigned based on the hazard level of the cargo.” Numbers are used instead of language to enable the immediate identification of the dangerous goods or hazardous substances, no matter where in the world.