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Past Issues

August 2005

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The transport of Dangerous Goods (DG) by sea, air, rail and road is governed by strict codes of practice and legalities in most countries around the globe. South Africa has a its own set of DG rules and regulations as stipulated in Chapter VIII of the Road Traffic Act (RTA), reputed to be among the best in the world, comprehensively defining safety measures and accountability. This is all very well, in theory. The situation 'on the ground', however, suggests that despite this definitive legal body of work, people working in the DG arena are plagued by a multitude of 'monsters' that are standing in the way of the entire industry moving forward safely and effectively. Paul Collings investigates.

In 2001, the National Department of Transport ceased using the UK 'Hazchem' system as the foundation of the RTA DG legislation and in conjunction with SABS, CAIA and other DG role players, put together a new, 'home grown' set of DG regulations. These regulations govern the movement of DG from 'cradle to grave' and hold consignors, transporters and consignees accountable for any mishap that may occur in the transporting of these products. While the legislation takes care of all eventualities, it is the implementation of the laws that is floundering, for many reasons, such as:

Training
DG compliance is not a simple exercise or a cheap one. Everyone involved - from management to line worker - has to be trained exactly how to safely and legally handle well over 3 000 DG classified products. Each product has its own 'hazardous' properties and knowing which products can be loaded and stored together safely requires no mean learning curve. The 'syllabus' that defines this learning curve now has to be accredited by TETA (the Transport Education and Training Authority), an arduous process for trainers who are not having any joy getting effective feedback from TETA on their respective training course submissions to enable them to get on with the crucial job of (accredited) DG training.

Driver shortage
The ongoing problem of trained drivers is especially dire in the DG industry. Big transport operations spend millions of Rands on specialised recruitment processes like psychometric/psycho-motor testing, hands-on training on how to load DG and what to DG in the event of a spill. These drivers have to carry a special DG ('D) permit on their PrDP (Professional Driver's Permit), another issue log jammed by bureaucratic red tape.

Confusing amendments
The codes of practice underpinning DG legislation are constantly being revised and released in isolation, without being streamlined with existing codes, causing much confusion for DG operators. The moment a code is amended, the law seems to change and unless DG transporters are effectively 'kept in the loop', they will continue to fall foul of the law. 

Insufficient enforcement
Chapter VIII of the RTA has many elements, some more obvious than others. Issues pertinent to vehicle fitness are relatively easy to monitor, like placarding, tremcards, driver permits and DG Documentation. The chapter, however, also includes regulations governing statutory insurance, training of qualified personnel, loading and offloading procedures and operational agreements that are not being effectively enforced. Traffic officials need extensive training and the long awaited DG Inspectorate needs to commence operations.

Accountability loopholes 
Despite the watertight legislation, DG spills/incidents are often associated with court cases between people involved (either directly or indirectly). Accountability in the DG arena is never a cut and dried issue it seems and potentially, everyone from truck drivers, transport operators, consignors, consignees, motorists and municipal services are caught in the 'who is going to pay?' argument when a truck carrying DG is involved in an accident and major clean-up operations are called for. 

These and other issues are explored in the following pages of this FleetWatch Special Interest Report. 

WARNING! Put on protective clothing!