Hazardous materials, News

New dangerous goods transport laws to affect mining

dangerous goods

A major overhaul of the Australian Dangerous Goods Code is underway, with a new Code expected to be published as soon as next year.

The Australian Dangerous Goods Code establishes the requirements for the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail in Australia. It sets out rules and guidelines for classifying, packaging, marking, labelling and transporting dangerous goods safely.

Dangerous goods are substances and articles which, because of their chemical or physical properties, pose hazards requiring special controls for their safe transport and storage.

The mining industry is well known for transporting potentially dangerous goods like explosives and gas, as well as mined resources themselves like uranium.

Since January 2023, the National Transport Commission (NTC) has published 12 discussion papers on aspects of the Code that need updating or improving.

Following this review, the NTC has prepared a draft update to ensure the Code meets current best practices and the needs of industry and regulators.

A high-level update of the Code happens every two years, however, this is the first full review of the Code since the seventh edition was released in 2007.

Public consultation is now open, focusing on key areas to modernise the Code, simplify compliance processes, improve safety and better align with international standards.

“Transporting dangerous substances is an operation that can potentially impact the environment and the surrounding community,” SafeWork South Australia said on its website.

“It is important that everyone involved in transporting dangerous goods understand their responsibilities to help prevent and reduce damage to people, property and the environment.”

One proposed change to the Code is the removal of emergency information panels for intermediate bulk containers.

According to the NTC, this change aligns the Code with international practices for road and rail, as well as domestic practices for other transport modes. This is expected to save Australian industry millions of dollars each year.

Feedback can be submitted through the NTC website until December 10 2024.

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