Health And Safety Citation and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 and come into operation on 9th June 2025. Interpretation 2 In these Regulations— “ the 1992 Regulations ” means the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992 ; “ approval ” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 4(1)(a); “ the Convention ” means the International Convention for Safe Containers 1972, as amended ; “ container ” means an article of transport equipment, excluding a vehicle or packaging or any article of transport equipment designed solely for use in air transport, which is— of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough for repeated use; designed to facilitate the transport of goods by one or more modes of transport without intermediate reloading; designed to be secured or readily handled or both, having corner fittings for these purposes; and of a size such that the area enclosed by the outer bottom corners is either— if the container is fitted with top corner fittings, at least 7 square metres, or in any other case, at least 14 square metres, and includes— a container when carried on a chassis, and a swap body that is carried by or on board a sea-going ship, and that is not mounted on a road vehicle or rail wagon; “ corner fittings ” in relation to any container means an arrangement of apertures and faces at either the top or the bottom or both at the top and the bottom of the container for the purposes of handling, stacking and securing or any of those purposes; “ designated area ” means any area designated by Order under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 and “ within a designated area ” includes over and under it; “ the Executive ” means the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland; “ the Health and Safety Executive ” means the Health and Safety Executive established under section 10 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 ; “ maintained ” means maintained in an efficient state in efficient working order and in good repair; “ maximum operating gross mass ” means the maximum allowable sum of the mass of the container and its cargo; “ safety approval plate ” means a plate in the form and containing the information specified by Schedule 1; “ swap body ” means a container which is specially designed for carriage by road only or by rail and road only and is without stacking capability and top lift facilities; “ territorial sea ” means the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Northern Ireland and “ within the territorial sea ” includes on, over and under it; and “ use ” means use for the purpose for which the container is designed but does not include— movement to a place for remedial action if— so far as is reasonably practicable the movement is without risk to the safety of any person; and the remedial action is carried out before the container is repacked with goods; or in the case of an empty container— transport to a place for testing to obtain approval; or delivery to its purchaser by the vendor or their agent. Application of Regulations 3 1 These Regulations apply to any container used at work or supplied for use at work. 2 Within the territorial sea or a designated area these Regulations apply to any container so used at work or supplied for use at work in circumstances in which any of paragraphs 2 to 9 of Schedule 2 apply. Conditions of use and enforcement 4 1 The owner or lessee of a container shall not use or permit that container to be used unless— a it has valid approval issued in accordance with regulation 5 (hereinafter referred to as “ an approval ”); b it has a valid safety approval plate fixed to it in accordance with regulation 6; c it is properly maintained; d the examination requirements in regulation 8 are met in respect of that container; e all markings on the container showing maximum operating gross mass are consistent with the maximum operating gross mass information on the safety approval plate; and f it meets the conspicuous marking requirements in regulation 9. 2 Any person, other than the owner or lessee, using or permitting the use of a container shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that— a it has a valid safety approval plate fixed to it in accordance with regulation 6; b all markings on the container showing maximum operating gross mass are consistent with the maximum operating gross mass information on the safety approval plate; and c it meets the conspicuous marking requirements in regulation 9. 3 Where it is an express term of a bailment of a container that the bailee is responsible for ensuring that the container is maintained or examined, the bailee shall, in addition to any duty placed on them by paragraph (2), ensure that— a the container is properly maintained; and b the examination requirements in regulation 8 are met. 4 In proceedings for an offence of using or permitting a container to be used which is not properly maintained or examined, it is a defence that at the time of the contravention a bailment or lease was in force in respect of the container and— a in the case of an owner, that it was an express term that the bailee or lessee was responsible for ensuring that the container is maintained or examined; b in the case of a lessee— i that it was not an express term of the lease that the lessee was responsible for ensuring that the container is maintained or examined; or ii under a further lease it was an express term that the further lessee was responsible for ensuring that the container is maintained or examined; c in the case of a bailee who is a bailor under a further bailment, that it was an express term of the further bailment that the further bailee was responsible for ensuring that the container is maintained or examined. 5 In this regulation “ owner ” includes the owner’s agent. Approval of containers—either by design type or individually 5 1 An approval (whether relating to a design type or to an individual container) is, for the purposes of these Regulations, valid only if— a it has been issued— i by the Executive; ii by a person or organisation appointed for the time being by the Executive in accordance with paragraph (2); iii by the Health and Safety Executive or by a person or organisation appointed by the Health and Safety Executive in accordance with regulation 5 of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 2017 ; or iv by or under the authority of a Government which has ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to the Convention; and b it has not been withdrawn in writing by— i the person or organisation who issued the approval; or ii the Executive, whether or not it was issued by the Executive. 2 An appointment by the Executive for the purpose of issuing approvals under paragraph (1)(a)(ii) shall be in writing and may be— a for a specified period; b subject to conditions; and c varied or revoked at any time by the Executive in writing. Fixing of safety approval plate 6 For the purposes of these Regulations a container has a valid safety approval plate fixed to it if— a the safety approval plate is marked and fixed to the container in accordance with— i Schedule 1; or ii where regulation 7 applies, the 1992 Regulations, and b the information on the safety approval plate is correct and relates to a valid approval. Containers constructed before 1st July 2014 7 A container constructed prior to 1st July 2014 may retain the safety approval plate required by the 1992 Regulations, provided that no structural modifications have been or are made to that container. Examination of containers 8 1 The examinations in regulation 4(1)(d) and (3)(b) shall be in accordance with an examination scheme or programme approved by the Executive for the purposes of this regulation or by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of regulation 8 of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 2017. 2 There shall be clearly marked on the container either on or as close as practicable to the safety approval plate all matters which the examination scheme or programme referred to in paragraph (1) requires to be marked. 3 The examination requirements in paragraph (1) do not apply in the case of an owner if— a examinations comply with the procedure adopted by the State (other than the United Kingdom) for the examination of any container where the owner is permanently resident or incorporated; b the procedure has been approved or prescribed by the Government of that State, or by any organisation authorised by such a Government to act on its behalf, for the purpose of the Convention; and c the Government has ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to the Convention. Marking in accordance with British Standard 9 1 Where the stacking or racking values are less than 192,000kg or 150kN, respectively, the container shall be conspicuously marked as required under British Standard Freight Containers – Coding, identification and marking , as revised or reissued from time to time, at or before the next scheduled examination. 2 In this regulation “ scheduled examination ” means the next examination conducted in accordance with regulation 8. Revocation 10 The 1992 Regulations are revoked. Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for the Economy on 14th May 2025. Dr Caoimhe Archibald Minister of the Department for the Economy