Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

5.  In regulation 10—

(a) in paragraph (2)(c), before the words “Schedule 7” there shall be inserted the words “Part I of”;

(b) for paragraph (4) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(4) The operator of a large container which is being used for the carriage of dangerous goods shall ensure that—

(a) any requirements specified in Part I of Schedule 7 relating to those goods are complied with, as if the large container were a vehicle;

(b) the requirements specified in Part II of Schedule 7 are complied with; and

(c) before the container is loaded it is checked to ensure that—

(i) it is free from any residue of a previous load, and

(ii) the interior floor and walls are free from protrusions.

(4A) The operator of a large container which has corner fittings for the purpose of securing or handling it and which is of a size such that the area enclosed by the outer bottom corners is either—

(a) if the container is fitted with top corner fittings, at least 7 square metres; or

(b) in any other case, at least 14 square metres,

and which is being used for the carriage of dangerous goods, shall ensure that that container complies with the requirements of the International Convention for Safe Containers 1972 signed at Geneva on 2nd December 1972 and ratified by the United Kingdom on 8th March 1978 (published by the International Maritime Organization, 4th edition, 1996).

(4B) The operator of a large container which—

(a) is 6 or more metres long; or

(b) is—

(i) 2·991 metres long, and

(ii) 2·438, 2·5 or 2·6 metres wide,

and which is being used for the carriage of dangerous goods, shall ensure that that container complies with the requirements of those International Union of Railways UIC leaflets particularised in paragraph (4C).

(4C) The leaflets referred to in paragraph (4B) are—

(a) 590—10th edition, 1st January 1979 (as amended on 1st July 1979, and in 1981, 1985, and 1994 and updated on 1st January 1989);

(b) 592-2—5th edition, 1st July 1996;

(c) 592-3—1st edition, 1st July 1977 (as amended in 1979 and 1985); and

(d) 592-4—1st edition, 1985 (as amended in 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1995 and reprinted on 1st July 1995).”;

(c) after paragraph (5) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs—

“(6) The operator of a tank container which has corner fittings for the purpose of securing or handling it and which is of a size such that the area enclosed by the outer bottom corners is either—

(a) if the container is fitted with top corner fittings, at least 7 square metres; or

(b) in any other case, at least 14 square metres,

and which is being used for the carriage of dangerous goods shall ensure that the frame of that container complies with the requirements of the International Convention for Safe Containers 1972 signed at Geneva on 2nd December 1972 and ratified by the United Kingdom on 8th March 1978 (published by the International Maritime Organization, 4th edition, 1996).

(7) In this regulation, “corner fittings” 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.”.