Swiss Hazardous Goods Day at the Museum of Transport in Lucerne

The President of the ASA, Ernst Winkler, welcomed the participants of the Dangerous Goods Day from all over Switzerland and neighbouring countries to the "class reunion" and provided information about the day's proceedings. The series of lectures was opened by Dieter Zaugg, EcoServe International AG, with his explanations on hazardous waste in dangerous goods law - ways out of the grey area.

There is practically no trade that does not have hazardous waste, but is it also dangerous goods? This question can only be answered by classification. If the hazardous waste is also a dangerous good, then on the one hand the waste code must be assigned according to VeVA
but also become a UN number and that is not so easy. Because often several UN numbers can be assigned to one type of waste or vice versa.

The decisive factor here is the composition and the type of hazardous ingredients. In terms of dangerous goods legislation, the waste is to be treated in the same way as new products, but the ADR nevertheless provides for some exemptions and facilitations. After the coffee break, those present were confronted with the upcoming amendments to the ADR and SDR 2021. David Manuel Gilabert, Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), already provided various information on this.

Dangerous goods in equipment 

There are new provisions for "dangerous goods in equipment used during carriage (...)". This affects, for example, containers which are equipped with detectors for identification/tracking purposes, which in turn contain lithium batteries. At
In connection with the carriage of lithium batteries, there will be other new provisions (packing instructions, special provisions, marking). There will also be new UN numbers for programmable electronic detonators and for category A medical waste. We can therefore look forward to seeing what ADR 2021 will look like in detail.

Before lunch, Peter Hari, from the Swiss Commercial Vehicles Association ASTAG, explained his experiences with the new ADR driver training.

Already since 1 April 2017, no more training materials are allowed at the exam, only tables and the written instructions. Whether this is practical, one can be divided opinion. Especially as failing the exam is almost tantamount to being banned from the profession. As a result, today's courses are designed to ensure that participants pass the exam. But actually the goal should be that the contents can be worked out meaningfully in the course.

After lunch, the event continued with a very refreshing presentation that encouraged the participants to participate. Jürgen Werny, Ingenieurbüro Werny, went into the amendment ADR 2019 and wanted to know from the audience in each case now that experience had been gained,
whether they are weak points or stellar moments.

Batteries in traffic 

It has not yet been possible to gain any real experience with the new UN numbers for items containing dangerous goods, as these can still be transported exempt until the end of 2022. The transitional period will then expire. However, it will be interesting to see what happens then, because from 2023, heat-generating insoles for shoes or small transistors, for example, would have to be transported in accordance with ADR. It will also be exciting as early as 1.1.2020. Then, for proof of the UN 38.3 test (lithium batteries), not only a certificate of confirmation will be required, but also a detailed test summary, and this will be retroactive for all batteries.
tested after 2003.

It is now hoped that this deadline will be extended, as transport is prohibited without this documentation. The question is what happens if the battery supplier no longer exists?

The insights into the controls of the Zurich Cantonal Police, presented by Stefan Bachmann, were interesting. According to the Road Traffic Control Ordinance, the Road Traffic Act and the Police Act, the police are obliged to carry out traffic controls. These serve to maintain or increase road safety. In 2018, 90,500 lorries and vans were checked throughout Switzerland. This resulted in 20,000 complaints, of which 238 were dangerous goods offences. In the canton of Zurich, most of the complaints concerned the transport document and load securing. It is also worrying that drivers sometimes take a long time to find the written instructions, even though they have to take note of them before transport. Imagine something happens. There is no time to look.

Dangerous driving manoeuvres 

Pictures were shown of practical examples of defective vehicles and equipment, loads that were not secured or only secured to a moderate degree and dangerous driving manoeuvres on the motorway. One is glad that something worse rarely happens and that the police do their duty and take a very close look at such transports.

At the end of the presentation, a film showed the effects of puncturing an IBC with a forklift truck. If, after puncturing, the forklift is reversed, the IBC will empty like a gusher. To keep the damage to a minimum, the forks should be left in the IBC and the necessary measures taken to raise the alarm.

After the last presentation, Ernst Winkler closed the Swiss Dangerous Goods Day with a vote of thanks to the speakers, the specialist exhibitors and the organisers of the event.

The presentations in PDF format, as well as some impressions from September 20, 2019, are available at the
VAG Homepage www.vag-schweiz.ch is switched on.

The next Swiss Dangerous Goods Day will take place on 18 September 2020, once again at the Lucerne Museum of Transport.