Due to unprecedented growth of chemical Industries, the proportion of hazardous chemicals in total freight traffic is increasing at a rapid rate. Of the carriers that carry hazardous goods approximately two-thirds of them carry flammable petroleum products including Kerosene, Petrol, LPG, Naphtha etc. The movement of such substances is more prone to accident than the movement of other goods. When involved in a road accident , may cause disastrous consequences like fire, explosion, injuries, in addition to property loss and environmental pollution.

Bhopal tragedy of 1984 was followed by various administrative and legislative measures to revise and improve the overall safety condition in various industries, specially dealing with hazardous chemicals.

The safety codes and safety requirements to be followed in transportation of hazardous materials are laid down in Central Motor Vehicles Rules.

TRANSPORTATION OF GOODS OF DANGEROUS OR HAZARDOUS NATURE.

• Every goods carriage carrying dangerous or hazardous goods shall display a distinct mark of the class label appropriate to the type of dangerous or hazardous goods.
• Every package containing dangerous or hazardous goods shall display the distinct class labels appropriate to the type of dangerous or hazardous goods.
• In the case of packages containing goods which represent more than one hazard, such packages shall display distinct labels to indicate the hazards.
• Every goods carriage carrying goods of dangerous or hazardous nature shall be fitted with a techograph, an instrument to record the lapse of running time of the motor vehicle; time speed maintained, acceleration and declaration etc., and a spark arrester.
  

  (Rule 129)
  
  

1. MANNER OF DISPLAY OF CLASS LABELS:

The class label shall be so positioned that the size of the label is at angle of 45 degrees to the vertical and the size of such label shall not be of less than 25 mm square which may be divided into two portions, the upper half portion being reserved for the pictorial symbol and the lower half for the test.

(Rule 130)

2. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CONSIGNOR FOR SAFE TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS OR HAZARDOUS GOODS

The consignor has to ensure the following points

Every consignor shall supply to the owner of the goods carriage full and adequate information about the dangerous or hazardous goods, being transported as to enable such owner and its driver:

(Rule 131)

3. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TRANSPORTER OR OWNER OF GOODS CARRIAGE

1. It shall be the responsibility of the owner or transporter to ensure the following
   • The goods carriage has valid registration and permit and is safe for the transportation of the said goods.
   • The Vehicle is equipped with necessary First-Aid, Safety equipment, tool box and antidotes as may be necessaty to contain any accident.
2. The owner or transporter should satisfy himself that the information given by the consignor is full and accurate.
3. The owner or transporter should ensure that the driver being deputed for transportation is trained to handle and transport such hazardous materials.
4. The owner of the goods carriage carrying dangerous or hazardous goods and the consignor of such goods shall lay down the route for each trip.
5. The owner of the goods carriage should ensure that the driver holds a driving licence as per provisions of Rule 9 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

   As per Rule 9 the driver should have the ability to read and write at least one Indian language specified in VII Schedule of the Constitution and English language.

   The driver should have successfully passed a course connected with the transport of hazardous goods.

(Rule 132)

4. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DRIVER:

It is the responsibility of the driver to keep all information provided to him in writing i.e., in the form TREM CARD (Transport Emergency Card). This is to be kept in the drivers cabin and is available at all times while hazardous material related to it is being tranported.

(Rule 133)

5. EMERGENCY INFORMATION PANEL:

It is essential for every hazardous material carrier to display correctly the emergency information panel.

Emergency information panel should be legibly and conspicuously marked in each of the three places specified. So that the emergency information panel faces to each side of the carriage and to its rear and such panel shall contain the following information viz.,

• The correct technical name of the dangerous or hazardous goods in letters not less than 50mm high.
• The United Nations class number for the dangerous goods in letters not less than 100mm high.
• The class label of the dangerous or hazardous goods in the size of not less than 250mm square.
• The name and telephone number of the emergency services to be contacted in the event of fire or any other accident in letters and numerals that are not less than 50mm high and the name and telephone number of the consignor of the dangerous or hazardous goods or of some other person from whom expert information and advice can be obtained concerning the measures that should be taken in the even of emergency.
  
  

  PLACES FOR FIXING PANNELS DIMENSIONS OF PANNELS

(Rule 134)

6. DRIVER TO BE INSTRUCTED:

The owner of every goods carriage transporting dangerous or hazardous goods shall ensure to the satisfaction of the consignor that the driver of the goods carriage has recieved adequate instructions and training to enable him to understand the nature of the goods being transported, by him, the nature of the risks raising out of such goods, precautions he should take while the goods carriage is in motion or stationary and the action he has to in case of any emergency.

(Rule 135)

7. DRIVER TO REPORT TO THE POLICE STATION ABOUT ACCIDENT:

The driver of a goods carriage transporting any dangerous or hazardous goods shall, on the occurrence of an accident involving any dangerous or hazardous goods transported by his carriage, report forthwith to the nearest police station and also inform the owner of the goods carriage or the transporter regarding the accident.

(Rule 136)

8. CLASS LABELS:

In respect of the dangerous or hazardous goods specified in Column (2) of the Table below, the labels specified in the corresponding entry in Column (3) shall be the class labels, namely :-

(Rule 137)

1. LIST OF CLASS LABELS LIST OF HAZARDOUS GOODS

   
   
   
   

One year from the date of commencement of central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 1993, any person driving a goods carriage carrying goods of dangerous or hazardous nature to human life shall, in addition to being the holder of a driving licence to drive a transport vehicle, also has the ability to read and write atleast one Indian language out of those specified in the VII Schedule of the Constitution and English and also possess a certificate of having successfully passed a course consisting of following of following syllabus and periodicity connected with the tranport of such goods.

Period of training 3 days   Place of training At any institute recognised by the State Government A. Defensive driving Questionnaire Cause of accidents Accidents statistics Driver's personal fitness Car condition Braking distance Highway driving Road / Pedestrian crossing Railway crossing Adapting to weather Head on collision Rear end collision Night driving Films and discussion Duration of training for A & B - 1st and 2nd day B. Advance driving skills and training training   (i) Place of training At any institute recognised by the State Government