Dangerous goods are substances, mixtures, articles or materials that can present a risk to people, property or the environment during transport. Because of these risks, their carriage is subject to specific international and national regulations covering classification, packaging, marking, labelling, documentation, handling and transport.
Dangerous goods include many products used every day in industry and logistics. Examples include fuels, solvents, paints, corrosive chemicals, compressed gases, aerosols, pesticides, infectious substances and lithium batteries. A product does not have to appear particularly hazardous to be regulated as dangerous goods. Consumer products such as perfumes, cleaning products, power banks and spray cans may also fall within dangerous goods legislation when transported.
How are dangerous goods classified?
International dangerous goods regulations divide dangerous goods into nine hazard classes according to their principal transport hazard. These range from Class 1 explosives and Class 2 gases to Class 3 flammable liquids, Class 6 toxic and infectious substances, Class 8 corrosive substances and Class 9 miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles.
Individual dangerous goods are normally assigned a UN number, which provides an internationally recognised identification of the substance or article during transport. Gasoline, for example, is assigned UN 1203, while lithium-ion batteries are generally assigned UN 3480 when transported on their own.
Depending on the substance, a packing group may also be assigned to indicate the degree of danger. Packing Group I represents high danger, Packing Group II medium danger and Packing Group III low danger. Not every dangerous good is assigned a packing group.
Which regulations apply to dangerous goods?
The applicable regulations depend primarily on the mode of transport. Road transport in many European and other contracting countries is governed by ADR, while RID applies to international rail transport and ADN to inland waterways. Maritime dangerous goods transport is regulated through the IMDG Code, while international air transport is governed by the ICAO Technical Instructions and, operationally, commonly handled using the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.
These systems are largely based on the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, helping create a harmonised international framework for classification and transport.
It is important to distinguish dangerous goods from hazardous substances. Dangerous goods classification concerns hazards during transport, whereas workplace and chemical-supply legislation may use different classification criteria. A substance can therefore be hazardous under chemical legislation without necessarily being regulated as dangerous goods for transport, and vice versa.
For organisations involved in chemical logistics, correctly identifying dangerous goods is the starting point for determining the appropriate packaging, labels, documentation, handling procedures, training and transport requirements.