Manufacture, storage and carriage of thermites and thermite containing articles
Health and Safety Executive - Safety notice
Department name: Chemicals, Explosives and Microbiological Hazards Division (CEMHD)
Bulletin number: CEMHD01-2024
Issue date: 03/24
Target audience: The offshore sector, the explosives sector, people transporting dangerous goods by rail, road, sea and air, and those involved in the supply of thermites and thermite containing articles.
Issue
HSE has identified that thermites, and thermite containing articles, meeting the criteria for being classified for transport in Great Britain and the ADR area as Class 1 dangerous goods (as explosive substances and articles) are currently being transported either as non-dangerous goods or as Class 4.1 dangerous goods (flammable solids).
Outline of the problem
Goods including substances and articles that meet the criteria in UNMR and ADR for classification as dangerous goods, in particular goods which meet the criteria to be classified as dangerous goods in Class 1 (explosives) are not being properly classified.
Failure to properly classify goods may result in the hazards associated with those goods not being properly communicated to people working throughout the transport chain and emergency services who may be required to attend a transport incident.
Incorrect classification could also mean that the safeguards expected to be in place to protect people and places when these goods are manufactured and stored are not fully implemented.
Action required
Duty holders must not allow thermites and thermite containing articles to be consigned or accepted for carriage by road or rail without them having been assigned an appropriate classification by the Competent Authority of a contracting party to ADR.
Thermites and thermite containing articles should be manufactured and stored in accordance with the requirements of the Explosives Regulations 2014.
Thermite containing articles should be subjected to the placing on the market requirements of the Pyrotechnic Articles Safety Regulations 2015.
Guidance
There is detailed Guidance on the manufacture, storage and carriage of thermites and thermite containing articles.