Dangerous goods shipments require a specialist skill-set and expert knowledge of all classes and shipping guidelines.
The transportation of dangerous goods is controlled and governed by a variety of different regulatory regimes, operating at both the national and international levels. Prominent regulatory frameworks for the transportation of dangerous goods include the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, ICAO’s Technical Instructions, IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations and the IMO’s International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. Collectively, these regulatory regimes mandate the means by which dangerous goods are to be handled, packaged, labelled and transported.
Types of Dangerous Goods:
- Excepted Quantities
- Dangerous Goods Totally Forbidden
- Carried by passenger or Cargo Aircraft only
- Treated as non-Dangerous Goods (Items, which do not come under the classification of 9 classes)
- Forbidden unless exempted (National Authority of the origin country may grant permission depending on the type of shipment)
‘Dangerous goods’ are materials or items with hazardous properties which, if not properly controlled, present a potential hazard to human health and safety, infrastructure and/ or their means of transport.
Regulatory frameworks incorporate comprehensive classification systems of hazards to provide a taxonomy of dangerous goods. Classification of dangerous goods is broken down into nine classes according to the type of danger materials or items present.