Safety regulations

International regulations

When working with hazardous materials several regulations need to be followed. These regulations can vary between countries, for transportation of hazardous goods on public traffic routes there are internationally widely accepted standards which are based on the "UN recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods":

1. the agreement about the international transportation of hazardous goods on streets (ADR) - Europe
2. the regulation for international transportation of hazardous goods by railways (RID) - Europe, Mediterranean area and parts of the Middle East
3. the international maritime hazardous goods code (IMDG-Code) and other safety relevant norms, which are summarized in the "Global Integrated Shipping Information System" (GISIS)
4. the ICAO technical instructions for the safe transport of hazardous goods by air (ICAO-TI) - area of influence of the aviation organizations IATA and ICAO

Most of the norms are valid even in a number of countries not mentioned above. For details it is recommended to analyse country specific norms in advance.

German / European regulations

On german level regulations regarding packaging of hazardous goods are set in the "Gefahrgutbeförderungsgesetz" (GGBefGG), which defines fundamental requirements. On basis of this law additional regulations specify the standards for the respective way of transportation. The "Gefahrengutverordnung Straße, Eisenbahn und Binnengewässer" (GGVSEB), the "Gefahrengutverordnung See" (GGVSee) and the "Bekanntmachung und Erlaubnis zur Beförderung gefährlicher Güter im Luftverkehr durch Luftfahrtunternehmen" offer detailed requirements for transportation of hazardous goods on streets, by train, by ship or by plane. They correspond to the international norms for transportation mentioned above and are harmonized on european level. They are basis for the approval to use packaging products for transportation purposes (UN-numbers). All Roetzmeier Safety Transportation Containers do have this internationally required UN-number.

For in-plant use especially the "Betriebssicherheitsverordnung" (BetrSichV) is relevant. It defines basic requirements for the in-plant use of hazardous goods, explosion protection and supervision of explosive constructions. The "Gefahrstoffverordnung" (GefStoffV) defines requirements regarding labelling as well as shelter stages for working with hazardous goods (the "Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals" (GHS) is the international basis for these issues). "Technische Regeln für Gefahrstoffe" (e.g. the TRGS 526, known as laboratory directive) concretize the requirements of the GefStoffV.