CELEX: 51991PC0004
Language: en
Date: 1991-06-11
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE APPOINTMENT OF AN OFFICER FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE RISKS INHERENT IN THE CARRIAGE OF DANGEROUS GOODS IN UNDERTAKINGS WHICH TRANSPORT SUCH GOODS, AND ON THE VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF SUCH OFFICERS

17.7.91                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 185/5
                                                                II
                                                        (Preparatory Acts)
                                                   COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive on the appointment of an officer for the prevention of the
              risks inherent in the carriage of dangerous goods in undertakings which transport such goods,
                                       and on the vocational qualification of such officers
                                                          (91/C 185/05)
                                                         COM(91) 4 final
                                        (Submitted by the Commission on 19 June 1991)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            or the person who continuously and effectively manages
                                                                    the transport operations of the undertaking to know
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               certain subjects, including the provisions relating to the
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 75 and               'carriage of dangerous goods'; whereas the contents of
84 thereof,                                                         this subject should be specified in greater detail;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                    Whereas the abovementioned Directive does not apply to
Having regard       to   the   opinion    of   the  European        undertakings engaging in the occupation of road-haulage
Parliament,                                                         operator by means of vehicles the permissible payload of
                                                                    which does not exceed 3,5 tonnes or the permissible total
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                    laden weight of which does not exceed 6 tonnes;
Social Committee,                                                   whereas particularly dangerous goods are commonly
                                                                    carried on vehicles beneath this weight limit;
Whereas in recent years increasing quantities of
dangerous goods have been transported, thus increasing
the risk of accidents;
                                                                    Whereas the said Directive applies only to undertakings
                                                                    transporting goods by road for hire or reward and not to
Whereas many of the accidents which occur when                      undertakings which transport dangerous goods by road
dangerous goods are transported are caused by insuf-                on own account;
ficient knowledge of the risks inherent in the carriage of
such goods;
Whereas it is necessary, with a view to completion of the           Whereas Directive (EEC) 89/391 (J) concerns the intro-
single market in transport, to adopt measures to improve            duction of measures to promote the improvement of the
the prevention of risks inherent in the carriage of such            protection or of the health and safety of workers at work
goods;                                                              against vocational hazards but does not introduce
                                                                    measures against the other risks inherent in the transport
                                                                    of dangerous goods;
Whereas undertakings which carry dangerous goods on
own account or for hire or reward are not required by
any specific national, Community or international
provision satisfactorily to fulfil the appropriate vocational       Whereas the European Parliament has declared that
training conditions in order to ensure that such goods              priority should be given to the vocational training inter
are carried safely;                                                 alia of road hauliers and inland barge masters carrying
                                                                    dangerous goods and substances and that training
Whereas the common rules laid down in Directive                     requirements should be harmonized at Community
74/561/EEC ('), as last amended by Directive                        level ( 4 );
89/438/EEC (2), require the road-haulage operator
(') OJ No L 308, 19. 11. 1974, p. 18.                               O OJ No L 183, 29. 6. 1989, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 212, 22. 7. 1989, p. 101.                               (4) Document A2 — 329/87, 4. 3. 1988.
 ---pagebreak---   N o C 185/6                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                  17.7.91
 Whereas Directive 87/540/EEC (') lays down no obli-             HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
 gation of vocational competence in respect of the
 carriage of dangerous goods;
                                                                                            Article 1
 Whereas the Economic and Social Committee considered                                         Aim
 that exports from and imports into the Community of
 the chemicals listed in Annex 1 to Council Regulation           The Member States shall take the necessary measures in
 (EEC) No 1734/88 of 16 June 1988 concerning exports             accordance with the requirements laid down in this
 from and imports into the Community of certain                  Directive to ensure that from 1 January 1994 under-
 dangerous chemicals (2) should be restricted to transport       takings whose activities include the carriage of
 undertakings the operator of which has been duly                dangerous goods appoint one or more officers for the
 trained or has proved that he is duly qualified ( J );          prevention of the risks inherent in the transport of such
                                                                 goods, in order to safeguard public safety, goods and the
                                                                 environment.
 Whereas the list of chemicals covered by the abovemen-
 tioned Regulation is extremely short and does not
 include all dangerous goods which are transported;                                        Article 2
                                                                                         Definitions
 Whereas the undertakings concerned should therefore be
 required to comply with standards relating to the               For the purposes of this Directive:
 prevention of the risks inherent in the carriage of
 dangerous goods, whatever mode of transport is used;
                                                                 1. undertaking concerned means any natural person, any
 whereas, to that end, it should be laid down that a risk-
                                                                    legal person, whether profit-making or not, any asso-
 prevention officer who has received appropriate voca-
                                                                    ciation or group of persons [with or] without legal
 tional training must be appointed;
                                                                    personality, whether profit-making or not, or any
                                                                    official body, whether having its own legal personality
 Whereas the essential objectives of the vocational                 or being dependent upon an authority having such
                                                                    personality, which transports dangerous goods on
 training of the said risk-prevention officer must be
                                                                    own account or for hire or reward;
 awareness of the risks involved in the carriage of
 dangerous goods and knowledge of the laws, regulations
 and administrative provisions applicable to the transport      2. risk-prevention officer means the person responsible
 of such goods;                                                     for the prevention of the risks covered by Article 1;
Whereas the introduction of common rules on the                 3. dangerous goods means:
prevention of the risks inherent in the carriage of
dangerous goods will contribute to the elimination of               (a) goods considered to be dangerous by the 'United
distortions of competition in the field of transport;                    Nations Recommendations' on the transport of
                                                                         dangerous goods;
Whereas the vocational qualification of the officer for             (b) waste    as defined        by  Council     Directive
the prevention of the risks inherent in the carriage of                  78/319/EECO;
dangerous goods will help improve the profitability of
the undertaking and the quality of the service provided
                                                                4. United Nations Recommendations means the recom-
to users; whereas the said vocational qualification will            mendations drawn up by the U N Committee of
also help minimize the risk of accidents which may cause            Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
irreversible damage to the environment and serious                  ('orange book'), as modified on the date of entry into
injury to other persons who may come into contact with              force of the Directive.
dangerous goods;
Whereas the 'United Nations Recommendations' on the                                       Article 3
transport of dangerous goods ('orange book') contain a
                                                                                         Exemptions
list of the main dangerous goods common to all modes
of transport; whereas, with a view to harmonization and         This Directive shall not apply to:
uniformity, the vocational training of the said risk-
prevention officer should cover the goods so listed,
                                                                1. the carriage of dangerous goods under the authority
                                                                    of the armed forces;
O OJ No L 322, 12. 11. 1987, p. 20.
(2) OJ No L 155, 22. 6. 1988, p. 2.
(J) Document ESC 1336/88 ce.                                    (4) OJ No L 84, 31. 3. 1978, p. 43.
 ---pagebreak---   17.7.91                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 185/7
  2. undertakings whose main or secondary activity is not                                       Article 6
     the carriage of dangerous goods but which oc-
     casionally carry goods posing little danger or                                   Validity of the certificate
     pollution hazard because of their special charac-               The vocational training certification referred to in Article
     teristics or of the small quantities carried.                   5 shall be valid for five years.
                                                                     The validity of the certificate may be extended for
                             Article 4
                                                                     further periods of five years where the holder passes a
               Role of the risk-prevention officer                   refresher test approved by the competent authority in the
                                                                     year before his certificate expires.
  1.    The main task of the risk-prevention officer shall
 be to seek all appropriate means and promote all appro-
 priate action to ensure that dangerous goods are trans-
 ported in the safest possible way. In particular he shall                                     Article 7
 perform the duties listed in Annex I.                                                     Accident report
                                                                     Whenever an accident affects public safety or results in
                                                                     damage to goods or the environment during carriage,
 2.     The head of an undertaking may also be its risk-
                                                                     loading or unloading carried out by the undertaking
 prevention officer.
                                                                     concerned, the risk-prevention officer must, after
                                                                     collecting all appropriate information, draft an accident
                                                                     report conforming to the model in Annex III.
 3.     No person may be appointed risk-prevention officer
 in more than one undertaking.
                                                                     The said accident report must be sent to the authority or
                                                                     body designated by the Member State within three
 4.     Each of the undertakings concerned shall send the            months of the date of the accident.
 name of its risk-prevention officer to the competent
 authority or the body designated by the Member State.
                                                                                               Article 8
                                                                                     Adaptation of this Directive
                            Article 5
                                                                     1.     For the purposes of amending this Directive with a
                       Training certificate                         view to:
 1.    The risk-prevention officer must hold a vocational
 training certificate valid for one or more modes of
                                                                    — taking into account future amendments to the United
 transport. The said certificate shall be issued by the
                                                                         Nations Recommendations referred to in Article 2
 authority of the body designated by the Member State.
                                                                         (4),
 2.    To obtain the said certificate, candidates must pass         — adapting it to scientific and technical progress in the
 an examination approved by the competent authority.                     fields which it covers,
                                                                    the Commission shall be assisted by an advisory
3.     The essential aims of the said examination are to            committee composed of representatives of the Member
ensure that candidates are sufficiently aware of the risks          States and chaired by the representative of the
inherent in the carriage of dangerous goods and know                Commission.
the laws, regulations and administrative provisions
relating to the mode(s) of transport of dangerous goods
used by the undertaking concerned.
                                                                    2.     The Commission representative shall submit to the
                                                                    committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
                                                                    committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, where
4.     The said examination must cover at least the                 necessary by voting, within a time limit which the
subjects listed in Annex II relating to the mode of                 chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the
transport in respect of which the training certificate is to        matter.
be issued.
                                                                    3.     The opinion shall be entered in the minutes; each
5.     The training certificate shall conform to the model          Member State may ask for its position to be entered in
in Annex IV.                                                        the minutes.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 185/8                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                   17. 7. 91
4.   The Commission shall take full account of the                      2.    When Member States adopt these measures, they
opinion issued by the committee. It shall inform the                    shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be
committee of the way in which it does so.                               accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their
                                                                        official publication. The methods of making such a
                                                                        reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
                           Article 9
This Directive is not applicable to the safety and health
of workers at work covered by Council Directive                                                  Article 11
89/391/EEC and the related implementing Directives.
                                                                        The Council shall determine, on a proposal from the
                                                                        Commission, by 31 December 1992 at the latest, uniform
                          Article 10                                    conditions for the training of officers for the prevention
                       Implementation                                   of the risks inherent in the carriage of dangerous goods.
1.   Member States shall bring into force the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to                                           Article 12
comply with this Directive not later than 1 January 1992.
They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.                     This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                               ANNEX I
             LIST OF THE DUTIES OF THE RISK PREVENTION OFFICER REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 4
                                                        OF THIS DIRECTIVE
             The officer for the prevention of the risks inherent in the carriage of dangerous goods shall be responsible
             inter alia for:
             — giving his opinion before vehicles are purchased or hired for the carriage of dangerous goods and
                 before such vehicles are fitted out,
             — inspecting the equipment used for the carriage of dangerous goods and checking that such equipment is
                 not defective or damaged making it unsuitable for the carriage of such goods,
             — identifying dangerous goods before they are loaded and checking the conformity of the equipment to
                 be used for their carriage,
             — monitoring compliance with the rules prohibiting the mixed loading of dangerous goods or requiring
                 them to be loaded separately,
             — checking the presence and conformity of all documents accompanying the goods during carriage,
             — checking that carriage and related operations have been properly effected,
             — supervising the training of staff involved in the carriage or handling of dangerous goods,
             — taking appropriate measures to introduce an emergency procedure in the case of accidents affecting
                 public safety, goods or the environment during the transport of dangerous goods and, whenever appro-
                 priate, with the official emergency services,
             — giving his opinion on and formulating proposals for the policy in the undertaking concerned for the
                 prevention of accidents linked to the carriage or handling of such goods,
             — drafting reports on accidents and incidents occurring during the carriage of dangerous goods or related
                 operations, studying appropriate measures to avoid their recurrence and ensuring that these measures
                 are implemented as soon as possible.
 ---pagebreak--- L^B^l                               C^n^ic^i]ourn^io^neEurooe^nC^or^r^unine^                                    ^oC^^^B^
                                  i^T^^S^L^^^^^^tJ^OT^^A^rtCL^^
       The knowledgerequired in order to qualifyfor a vocational traimngcenficatemust cover atleastthe
       following suh^ects
         1 the physical, chemical and to^icological properties of dangerous goods and the resulting nsks,
        U general preventive safety measures appropriate for different types of nsk,
       tit the provisions relating to the mode of transport used under national laws,Commumty standards, inters
            national conventions and agreements concerning ^ ^ r ^ ^
              t the classification of dangerous goods,
              ^ general packaging requirements,
              ^ danger markings and lahels,
              ^t references in transport documents,
              ^ the method of sending and restrictions on sending,
              D full loads,
              B carnage in hulk,
              ^ carnage in containers,
              ^ carnage infixed or removahle tanks,
            10 carnage of passengers and dangerous goods,
            It prohihitions on mi^ed loading,
            t^ segregation of suhstances,
            1^ limits on quantities earned,
            t^ handling and stowage,
            1^ cleaning andBor degassing hefore loading and after unloading,
            tD crews,
            IB vocational training,
            1^ vehicle papers,
            t^ safety instructions,
            ^0 surveillance ohligations,
            ^1 traffic or navigation regulations and resmctions,
            ^    operational or accidental discharges of pollutants,
            ^3 the stowage and lashing of road vehicles on rolPonBrolPoff ships,
      IV modem techniques for electronic data transmission and the momtonngof dangerousgoods dunng
            carnage
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 185/10                                 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 7. 91
                                                                     ANNEX III
                                                       MODEL ACCIDENT REPORT
            Name, address and telephone number of the undertaking:
              I. General information
                  Date and time of accident:
                  Place of accident:
                 Country:
                  Mode of carriage at time of accident:
                  •    Road                                          •    Sea
                  •    Rail                                          •    Air
                  [J Inland waterway
             II. Type of accident
                  LI Explosion
                  •    Fire
                  LJ Emission or discharge of dangerous or polluting substances
                  LJ Other (give details):
           III. Dangerous goods concerned (')
                 Description:
                 Classification:
           (') If there is insufficient room, supplement section III with an annex.
 ---pagebreak--- 17. 7. 91                             Official Journal of the European Communities             No C 185/11
          IV. Type and scale of damage
              Injury to persons: . . .  dead
                                  .. .  injured
                                  ...   poisoned
                                  .. .  other
              Material damage:
              Environmental damage:
           V. Apparent cause of accident
               U   Imputable to the dangerous goods transported
                   LJ Human error
                   LJ Equipment failure
               LJ Imputable to the means of transport used
                   LJ Human error
                    LJ Equipment failure
               LJ Imputable to a third party
               LJ External cause
                    •  Weather
                    •  Other
               LJ Cause unknown
               Q   Other cause:
          VI. Measures to be taken to avoid the recourrence of similar accidents:
                                                                                     (Date)
                                                                                   (Signature)
 ---pagebreak--- No C 185/12                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                     17. 7. 91
                                                                 ANNEX IV
                                      MODEL VOCATIONAL TRAINING CERTIFICATE
            EEC certificate of training as officer for the prevention of the risks inherent in the carriage of dangerous
                                                                      goods
           Certificate No
           Districtive sign of the State issuing the certificate
           Surname:
           Forename(s):
           Date of birth:
           Nationality:
           Signature of holder:
           Valid for the carriage of dangerous goods (')
            LJ   by road                                                 LJ by rail
            d    by inland waterway                                      LJ by sea
            D    by air                                                  D  Until     (date)
           Issued by:
          Date
          Signature (')
          Extended until:
          By:
          Date:
          Signature (')
          (') And/or stamp of the authority issuing the certificate..