Operational strategy and enforcement

Contents

• Risk
• Operational strategy
• Enforcement
• Education, promotion and liaison with industry
• Technical input
• Inspector training
• Arrangements for dealing with 'on the road' incidents involving dangerous goods

Risk

1 The carriage of dangerous goods by road creates risks to drivers, other road users, the public and the emergency services. In addition some substances create environmental risk. HSE pursues an enforcement strategy that is proportionate to the level of risk. The objective is to ensure that high standards of compliance with the relevant legislation are achieved and maintained.

2  There have been serious incidents overseas which illustrate the potential risk, and the ACDS report, "Major hazard aspects of the transport of dangerous substances" (1991), indicated that past experience and previous rates of infringement do not necessarily provide an adequate basis for assessing the risk of rare but potentially very serious events.

3  In Britain there have been few serious accidents directly resulting from the carriage of dangerous goods. There are frequent accidents involving vehicles carrying dangerous goods and loss of containment often occurs to some extent. Proper identification of vehicles and information about the goods they are carrying is thus important. HSE's experience from roadside checks is that about one in three of those vehicles carrying dangerous goods and selected for inspection exhibit breaches of one sort or another.

4  From time to time enforcement officers stop vehicles that are blatantly breaching the requirements in many respects. It is important that firm action is taken when such cases are detected.

Operational strategy

5  The overall strategy is to operate an inspection regime that makes the best use of the skills of HSE staff, Police and DVSA officers to influence companies and other stakeholders. The regime includes:

• vehicle checks at the roadside (see also para 7 below)
• inspection of compliance with CDG Regs  during visits to duty holders' premises; this involves both the assessment of management systems (including the role of the DGSA) and checks on vehicles at the premises
• regular liaison between HSE, police and DVSA officers at both national and local level, and
• liaison with intermediaries such as trade associations to improve contacts with duty holders.

6  CDG Regs allows suitably appointed police or DVSA officers to enforce the regulations.  Officers may issue Prohibition Notices and initiate prosecutions where justified.

7  It is expected that police and DVSA officers will make the majority of "on the road" contacts. They work within HSE's enforcement policy and HSE (through CEMHD Unit 4) monitor activity. It is important that HSE continues to make regulatory contacts to maintain knowledge and experience within field units.

8  The main thrust of HSE's enforcement regime is directed at the premises of duty holders who consign or carry dangerous goods, and this is where enforcement officers determine the competence of management in complying with the full range of their CDG duties. This action is informed by the intelligence produced following vehicle checks. Enforcement notices served by police/DVSA are placed on a data base which appears on the HSE website (via the enforcement link). CEMHD Unit 4 uses this data to monitor the quality and consistency of enforcement.

Enforcement

9. Enforcement should be consistent with HSE's enforcement policy.

10  Enforcement officers have a range of powers that can be applied to the enforcement of CDG Regs. In general, the approach is to ensure that the action taken is proportionate to the nature of the risk and/or the contravention and takes account of the overall record of the duty holder.

11  Enforcement effort is focused on the most important requirements, ie those that contribute significantly to the safety of the public, etc. These are:

• the integrity of packages, tanks, etc
• documentation
• equipment including fire extinguishers
• other matters of obvious concern, eg insecure loads
• driver training;
• vehicle placarding and orange plate marking
• package marking and labelling;

12  Some of these items are easier to inspect at the roadside than others. Unless there is good reason to do otherwise, officers are not expected to enter load compartments to check packages. Where that is needed proper arrangements for personal safety must be followed.

13  Other, less serious, breaches would normally result in either written advice contained in the report given to the driver at the time. This focus is particularly important as the legislation is prescriptive.

14 Enforcement is obviously a matter for the officer at the time, but should be in accordance with the HSE policy. HSE inspectors should use the EMM. There are particular challenges in the sense that in many cases the most obvious enforcement decision is to issue a Prohibition Notice, but judgements of "serious risk" are not always easy. Having said that, ADR and the regulations have risk assessment "built in", by setting transport categories, packing groups, small load thresholds and limited quantity exemptions. It follows that failure to comply may often be judged to represent a serious risk. Intuitively this is not the case for every transgression. Enforcement advice has been developed jointly with police and DVSA at the "Practitioners' forum" which allows the three bodies to share experience and views. The enforcement advice now takes account of the risk categories set out in the EU "Uniform Monitoring Procedures" directive.

15  For the Common problems likely to be seen at the roadside, this advice has been distilled into a form that permits reasonably easy reference and is reproduced below. Annex 3-1 It could for example be printed double sided and laminated. A fuller discussion of these and other potential problems is in Annex 3.2.

Education, promotion and liaison with industry

16  In the past, HSE has produced publications and guidance as ready sources of information to industry, explaining the law and providing advice on methods of compliance. This is now unlikely for three main reasons.

• It is felt that ADR itself is so prescriptive that in most cases the duty holder (guided by his DGSA) can find what is required,
• DfT is now the lead department and produces literature of its own
• There is a suite of guidance on the DfT website

17  HSE staff also make presentations at seminars, conferences, etc about the requirements of the legislation, as a means of promulgating good practice. Such techniques are particularly valuable as advice is given simultaneously to numerous duty holders.

18  HSE (through CEMHD Unit 4) also seeks to develop closer links with intermediaries with an interest in the carriage of dangerous goods (trade associations, industry groups, employee representatives), and such bodies can be a valuable source of intelligence. See also Regulatory environment.

Technical input

19  DfT is the competent authority for most functions. DfT maintains its own technical expertise and consults HSE and others as needed.

Inspector training

20  To ensure the effective implementation of the above strategy, especially in relation to complex and prescriptive legislation, it is important that inspectors are trained to an appropriate level. Training is not merely by attendance at a formal training course. HID has prepared this manual of essential information on CDG Regs for inspectors, and has mechanisms in place to provide technical and operational advice to its inspectors, police forces and DVSA. Both police officers and DVSA traffic examiners are provided with specific training for this work.

Arrangements for dealing with 'on the road' incidents involving dangerous goods

21  'On-the-road' emergencies involving vehicles carrying dangerous goods are dealt with by the emergency services in the usual way. Their personnel are trained and equipped to handle such incidents. HSE is not an emergency service and there are no circumstances in which inspectors should expose themselves to danger.

22  As police forces now have relevant powers there should be no need for HSE inspectors to attend incidents on the road. There may be a need to follow up incidents at duty holders' premises, in which case police officers will provide the necessary information by liaison with CEMHD Unit 4

23  It would be most unusual for the emergency services to require support from HSE whilst an incident is being dealt with. They might require later support in considering technical and legal issues surrounding for example vehicle or tank standards, or sometimes packaging standards. CEMHD Unit 4 will provide advice and support where needed.

24  In a situation where the Emergency Services are unable to obtain relevant emergency information, they can contact the National Chemical Emergency Centre, through the dedicated Chemsafe emergency telephone line, which should be available through their Control Centre. More information about how Chemsafe operates may be found at the NCEC website.

25  Information on packaging certificates, issued in UK, can be obtained from the VCA Dangerous Goods Office 

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