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DANGEROUS GOODS
Transporting lithium batteries is risky for aviation There are risks involved in transporting lithium batteries. They are dangerous goods for which special rules apply for transport especially by air. At various symposia including the IATA Lithium Symposium and the IATA CEIV LIBA certification program, it was perhaps correctly stated: it is not a question of whether it will go wrong at some point, but when!
Text and photography ILT
The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate’s approach
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nspector Rob Bussing of ILT advises: “Partly on the basis of an accident in the United Arab Emirates in 2010 an international regulation was formulated which means that lithium batteries are now classified as dangerous goods. Nevertheless, in 2019 the ILT had to deal with two cases of lithium batteries burning in postal packages. Advice was received of two spontaneous fires in e-commerce shipments. These incidents were immediately linked
to loose lithium batteries having been transported incorrectly by air. We call this the undeclared sending of goods. Such consignments are not recognised as being dangerous goods. ILT Inspectors of Dangerous Goods Air Cargo established that webshops were regularly sending lithium batteries by mail. The result of this being that the carrier is unaware he is transporting dangerous substances.”
Not in the air Rob Bussing continues: “The batteries spontaneously caught fire in a warehouse at Schiphol and at a PostNL sorting centre shortly after a flight. Luckily not whilst in the aircraft oth-
erwise the consequences would have been far more serious. After these incidents, the ILT started the “Safe and Sustainable Schiphol” program and along with colleague Inspectors of Dangerous Goods undertook a specific study into the extent of the risks of lithium batteries.”
E-commerce shipments Rob: “During our inspections the focus lay on e-commerce shipments. Web-shops in Asia frequently sent dangerous goods by mail even when this was not allowed. It was not just a few batteries; there were whole aircraft pallets full. The usual processing for such a violation is that the sender is held responsible for the whole consignment. This time, however, we chose a different approach. We approached the airline concerned regarding their responsibility under the legislation. Subsequently the airline had to advise us what they were going to do to prevent similar violations in the future.” According to Rob this ‘new’ approach has led to a good outcome. “The airlines tasked their ground handlers in Hong Kong to undertake 100% scan checks as an acceptance check for e-commerce goods. Since March 2021 we have identified hardly any infringements. Of course, as an Inspectorate, we must remain vigilant. But, with an eye to further tightening of the legislation for the carriage of loose lithium batteries in the future, our approach has been a significant step in the right direction. The expectation is that far fewer infringements will take place.”
Enhancing safety
Rob Bussing
Cargo Magazine
To increase the safety of transporting lithium batteries improvements are in the making. Special fire-retardant and
