HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY CONSULTANT
After the industrial revolution, the damage caused to the environment, people and natural life has become very noticeable, and some developments have started to take place also in our country as other countries of the world. The regulations on the transport of hazardous materials, which were designed in Geneva in 1957 and entered into force in some European countries in 1968, entered the agenda of both the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and put into force with the Regulation on the Transportation of Hazardous Materials by Road in 2013, and the Regulation on the Transportation of Waste by Road in 2015. The European Convention on the Transportation of Hazardous Materials by Road, which is being implemented by 48 countries, partially started to be implemented in our country as of July 1, 2015 and fully as of January 1, 2018. This convention mainly consists of various standards that ensure the safe and orderly transportation of hazardous materials by public roads without harming human health and the environment. These standards also determine the responsibilities, obligations and working conditions of the senders, recipients, fillers, loaders, unloaders, packers, transporters, as well as operators and drivers of all kinds of vehicles carrying hazardous materials. The effectiveness of the ADR agreement has been a significant development for our country, where 88% of freight transportation is carried out by road.
Within the scope of this convention, which is administered by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, the said hazardous materials cover substances whose number has reached 3500, including those transported by road in accordance with the standards of the ADR agreement. This means that we need to check the ADR books, which are updated every two years, to determine whether a product is a hazardous material. In the international standards, the UN numbering is used to identify each substance considered as hazardous. For example, UN 1558 arsenic, UN 1203 gasoline, UN2794 batteries, acid-filled, soaked batteries etc.
In practice, there are separate standards related to packaging, labeling, selection of vehicles to be used for shipment, driver training, packaging and vehicle marking, highway usage conditions and loading conditions, as well as safety instructions to be followed for each UN number. In our country, Hazardous Materials Safety Consultants have been assigned to implement the requirements of this regulation. Consultants identify the hazardous materials used in the companies and make the necessary arrangements by working with quality management departments in order to plan the flow of transactions within the company, as well as administrative management and shipping personnel related to the arrangements to be made. In addition, they follow the processes by providing training on the subject matter. The tasks of these advisors is to fully adapt the companies to their legal obligations and regularly monitor the ongoing process, upload the information and documents requested by the ministry related to the company’s annual activities to the U-net system at the end of each year, and keep the reports of accidents that the vehicles carrying hazardous materials involved in the current year.
Inspection operations within the scope of ADR are also carried out by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. Inspections are carried out in two different ways, such as examining vehicles while they are on the road and inspecting the companies operating with hazardous materials on site. The results of these inspections may also bring criminal proceedings. While the system was being designed, all employees involved in the shipment of dangerous goods have been given some responsibilities and possible penalties have been determined based on the duties and responsibilities of these people during the audit. For example, if a vehicle carrying hazardous materials departs without an orange license plate, everyone involved in the process, starting from the driver, the company that makes the transportation, the company or person who loads the said product, and the company or person who sends the product, are subject to penalties. This is done by checking everyone in the shipment process with each other in order to carry out the transactions in a healthier way. Compliance with the rules by following the instructions of the consultant during the purchase, sale and shipment activities, will eliminate a possible penalty.
