Appointing the ADR safety adviser

For which types of activity must an ADR safety adviser be appointed? How many ADR advisers do you need and what are the exceptions? Who can be an ADR adviser? Find the answer to all these questions, and plenty of other useful information, in this Honexpres article!

Activities related to the handling of dangerous goods

For the scope of the requirements of the ADR Agreement and of the national legislation on the appointment of the ADR safety adviser to be clear, we need to define the following activities related to the handling of dangerous goods: consignor, carrier, packer, loader, filler and unloader.

The following terms are defined in chapter 1.2 of ADR (p.15 Vol. I ):

1. Consignor – the enterprise which consigns dangerous goods either on its own behalf or for third parties. If the transport operation is carried out under a contract of carriage, consignor means the consignor according to the contract of carriage.
2. Carrier – the enterprise which carries out the transport with or without a contract of carriage.
3. Packer – any enterprise which puts dangerous goods into packagings. Including into large packagings and intermediate bulk containers. Where necessary, it prepares the packages for carriage
4. Loader – an enterprise which: loads packaged dangerous goods, small containers or portable tanks into or onto a vehicle or a container. It loads a container, a bulk container, a MEGC, a tank-container or a portable tank onto a vehicle.
5. Filler – the enterprise which fills dangerous goods into a tank. E.g.: tank-vehicle, demountable tank, portable tank or tank-container). An enterprise which fills goods into a battery-vehicle, a MEGC or into a vehicle, large container or small container for carriage in bulk.
6. Unloader – any enterprise which:

• removes a container, a bulk container, a MEGC, a tank-container or a portable tank from a vehicle; or
• unloads packaged dangerous goods, small containers or portable tanks out of or from a vehicle or out of a container; or
• discharges dangerous goods from a tank (tank-vehicle, demountable tank, portable tank or tank-container) or from a battery-vehicle, MEMU or MEGC, or from a vehicle, large or small container for carriage in bulk or a bulk container.

Appointing the ADR safety adviser

In accordance with chapter 1.8.3.1, each enterprise whose activities include the consigning or the carriage by road of dangerous goods, or the related packing, loading, filling or unloading operations connected with such carriage, shall appoint one or more safety advisers for the carriage of dangerous goods, responsible for helping to prevent the risks inherent in such activities with regard to persons, property or the environment.

1.8.3.2 The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may provide that the requirements shall not apply to enterprises:

• whose activities concern quantities, for each transport unit, which do not exceed those referred to in 1.1.3.6 and 1.7.1.4 and in chapters 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5.
• whose main or secondary activity is not the carriage of goods or the packing, filling, loading or unloading operations connected with such carriage. They do, however, occasionally engage in the national carriage of dangerous goods or in the packing, filling or loading operations connected with such carriage, posing a minimal degree of danger or risk of pollution.

National legislation, through HG 1175/2007, OMT 1214/2015, OG 27/2011, OMTI 980/2011 and OMTI 2221/2020, provides that every enterprise is obliged to appoint at least one safety adviser for the activities referred to in chapter 1.8.3.1 of ADR.

According to OMTI 2221/2020 and Ch.1.6.1.44 of ADR, enterprises involved in the carriage of dangerous goods only as consignors which are not obliged to appoint a safety adviser on the basis of the provisions applicable until 31 December 2018 shall, by derogation from the provisions of 1.8.3.1 applicable from 1 January 2019, appoint a safety adviser by 31 December 2022.

Documents required for appointing the ADR safety adviser

In the case of carriers of dangerous goods, the appointment of the safety adviser must be registered with the Autoritatea Rutieră Română-ARR (the Romanian Road Authority). This is done by submitting in person, transmitting ONLINE or sending by post with acknowledgement of receipt the following documents:

• Proof of employment and the Decision of appointment for the safety adviser.

• Proof of recognition of the vocational training certificate of the safety adviser. This applies where the certificate was issued by the authorities of an EU Member State other than Romania, of the European Economic Area or of the Swiss Confederation.

If the enterprise has not yet been registered with the ARR as a carrier of dangerous goods, then the following documents must also be submitted, transmitted or sent, as applicable:

• The list of drivers who will carry out road transport of dangerous goods,

• The driver's vocational training certificate, specific to the dangerous goods that will be carried, where it was issued in one of the signatory states of the ADR Agreement,

• The certificate of approval issued by RAR, for vehicles that require approval,

• The technical inspection certificate in the case of specialised superstructures for the carriage of receptacles containing liquefied gases or other dangerous goods,

• An authorisation issued by CNCAN (the Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control), for vehicles carrying dangerous goods of Class 7-radioactive.

Authorised transport of dangerous goods and general cargo – Honexpres

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Photo source: Caglar Taneli