EU gets tough on hazchem training
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by Rob Vs'illock and Martial Tardy • The EU is to press for tougher training for international drivers carrying dangerous goods.
The European Commission is confident of winning agreement for a stricter regime at next week's meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva.
The proposed rules require drivers to complete a basic 18-hour course with an extra 12 hours training for tanker drivers and eight hours for drivers handling nuclear substances or explosives. Following these courses drivers will face a written examination of at least 45 minutes, answering a minimum of 25 questions with a pass score of at least 80%.
The new worldwide rules—based at the UN's 1957 ADR agreement—could be mandatory throughout the EU from 1 January 1997. Last February Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock warned that if there was no agreement in Geneva, tougher standards would have to be imposed inside the EU anyway.
Not everybody is welcoming the proposals. The Freight Transport Association says: "The industry in the UK has not been in favour of changes to its own dangerous goods training scheme because it already has a decent programme. These changes will come at a cost to legislators and employers without yielding any real returns on safety improvements."
Peter Newport, chairman of the National Dangerous Substance Driver Training Scheme, disagrees: "A lot of the new draft is sensible.. .it has been designed to promote high levels of safety as standard. Most operators are keen on safety and driver knowledge—for them, little will change. Only those who try to cut corners will suffer. The ruling on minimum teaching units is a particularly welcome measure against 'crammer courses'."