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azard tests tVe:Zve :W RULES aimed at proving the safety of hic s carrying hazardous ids made their debut last ek n the wake of disasters hot Spain and America.
711 rules require sixnt ly tests for all vehicles ol d in carriage of goods a s ecified list of chemicals d ith a gross vehicle igh of over 10 tons, or with iap city to carry them in rit iners of three cubic tre .
7ra sport Minister William dg rs has said that the sixnt rule will be introduced Ja uary 1, 1970, and the pa ment of Transport says Lt ii will be no more than an en i measure until the fulre ulations can be made.
;() ar, the rules that will go o f rce are in the form of a tation document. They I known as the Goods hic e (Plating and Testing) gu ations (Amendment)
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ks ell as the rules on the ns port of chemicals, they o • fine a dangerous goods iic e as one which has a 'p late or if it does not have ould record, if it had one, g oss weight of no more in I 0,000kg or more in the ;e if an articulated vehicle lie should have a train ig t of no more than kg, and is used for the ge of hazardous loads, kn artic must be a tanker or Te icle which can carry a lk volume of more than ee metres — and the term ; lso been applied to any • if a vehicle that forms • f an articulated vehicle.
o ernment experts have d that term "dangerous )st nces" at last and have ue a list, available from the p rtment of Transport, ic includes ammonia and so utions with more than 50 C nt ammonia.
)t. er substances on the list de chlorine, hydrogen, lp ur dioxide, butane, ta • iene, butylene, cyclopp: ne, ethylene, hydro'bin gases, methane and gases with a high methane content, oil gas, lpg, and propylene — cause of the Spanish disaster earlier this year.
The term tanker has also been clearly defined as a vehicle which has a tank forming an integral part of the vehicle so that it can only be removed in a workshop.
Under the new rules, an operator would have to submit his vehicle for a periodical test where the current certificate was issued before or during December, 1977, and before the end of the twelfth month of the certificate.
Testing under the six-month rule is to be introduced on a gradual scale for hazardous load vehicles so that any vehicle on the road now with a certificate issued up to February, 1978, will need to be tested in January next year April certificate-holders will have to be tested in February next year.
The industry has until the end of the month to comment on the proposals but it is thought that, barring accidents, it is likely that the rules will be passed in the next session of Parliament.
Passing the rules will take a little or no Parliamentary time and would show that Mr Rodgers has acted quickly, as he said he would in July, to tighten Britain's rules following the other disasters.
Reaction to the proposed regulations has been mixed. The industry bodies are being very guarded about them and have said that they welcome the rules — but they are also saying that Britain really did not need them because our safety record is already so good.
But reaction from the men at ground level has been, almost predictably, one of fear of more rules and paperwork in an industry already overburdened with regulations.
Many fear that even a driver will now need at least some knowledge of the chemicals he is carrying before he sets out with his load. The prescribed list of chemicals contains not only basic chemicals but also their, derivatives to complicate the issue further.
What will probably worry, operators more than anything is that the DTp list also has a sting in its tail — the last item is "any highly inflammable liquid".
Both the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association have expressed concern at the sixmonthly test rule.
An RHA spokesman told CM that the association is worried that more and more safety checks at everdecreasing intervals will lead to ever-increasing costs for operators — and they see the six-monthly test as offering yet more confirmation of the high standards maintained by.; the industry.
Although, in general, everyone has welcomed the gradual introduction of the six month rule — including the testing stations.