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Dangerous goods are those solids or liquids or gases that are toxic for organisms, properties or the environment surrounding them, mostly owing to their composition or their characteristics. Keeping in mind the various kinds of dangerous goods, different countries in the world have regulatory committees that monitor and conduct the dangerous goods transportation. There are different ways of transporting these goods that differ according to the mode of transport involved. That is, the ways of shipping goods are different for air, sea, rail, road and inland waterway respectively. Further, these technicalities of shipping dangerous goods vary from one country to another.
There are nine categories of dangerous goods and depending on these categories, the dangerous goods transportation is made
Explosives: They are extremely hazardous as they are capable of producing huge amounts of heat, light, sound, or smoke.
Gases: These include compressed liquefied gases, dissolved gases, refrigerated liquefied gases, aerosols, and so on and so forth. They are flammable gases and cause asphyxiates.
Flammable Liquids: They are volatile and can give vapor that is highly flammable.
Flammable Solids: They are highly combustible and therefore can produce sparks that might set fire thereby inflicting serious damage and injury.
Oxidizing Substances: Substances that yield oxygen are termed as dangerous because although they themselves are non-combustible, they do contribute to the flammability of other hazardous substances.
Toxic and Infectious Substances: Toxic substances lead to serious injury or demise of human beings if swallowed, inhaled or by skin contact. Infectious substances are dangerous as they contain pathogens like bacteria, viruses and other agents that can cause diseases in human beings and other animals upon contact.
Radioactive material: These contain atoms that are subject to radioactive decay, and therefore while undergoing such decay they often produce harmful ionizing radiation that causes serious health issues.
Corrosives: These are extremely chemically reactive substances that destroy material, even skin tissue upon contact.
Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods: They are those goods that pose threats that are not covered by the above classes of dangerous goods. These are substances harmful to the environment and therefore should be transported with great care. These include elevated temperature substances, GMO’s and MMO's
Technicalities involved in the Dangerous Goods Transportation
Safe packing: Dangerous Goods Transportation requires careful packaging that complies with both national and international regulations in each mode of transport so that they are safely carried.
Logistics concepts: The toxicity and nature of these dangerous goods should be assessed well before they are packed and racked, keeping in mind the potential of the harm they are able to cause. The dangerous goods transportation should occur according to government protocols, and it should be ensured that these toxic, corrosive chemical products, biological agents, and materials are correctly assessed and classified according to the existing national and international provisions. For this purpose, the knowledge of international organizations and agencies is really mandatory.
Traffic Guidance: It is essential to keep in mind the traffic in dangerous goods transportation. Dangerous goods transportation by rail or road might lead to accidents that involve spillage causing explosions, fire, and, other terrible incidents.
Quality Control: The damage that they cause should always be kept in mind while dangerous goods transportation and therefore these results should be tested before they are packed and transported to other places.
Accident prevention strategies: They should be packed in such a way so that by no means do these goods cause contamination or spillage, the result of which will either cause death or huge explosion.
Therefore, it is extremely essential to adhere to the protocols that surround dangerous goods transportation and have a technical know-how of the composition and nature of these commodities while handling and shipping them. Even the people involved in this process should be made well aware of their dangerous effects and must take the necessary steps to protect themselves from such harmful effects.
Dangerous goods transportation has fatal risks attached to it hence it must be carried out with safety. The safety and security of those involved in transportation should never be compromised. With the above points in mind, it is clear to understand the precautions workers need to work in a safe environment.