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SAFETY
ASSAULT ON BATTERIES LITHIUM BATTERIES • THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY, THROUGH IATA, IS ATTEMPTING TO IMPROVE STANDARDS IN THE SHIPMENT OF LITHIUM BATTERIES WITH A NEW CEIV PROGRAMME THE INTERNATIONAL AIR Transport Association (IATA) has established a Center of Excellence for Independent Validators for lithium batteries (CEIV LiBa) to act as a certification programme to allow shippers and freight forwarders of lithium battery products meet their safety obligations by complying with the relevant transport regulations. CEIV LiBa was officially launched during IATA’s World Cargo Symposium in Dublin in October. CEIV LiBa is structured along the lines of similar and well established initiatives for the transport by air of live animals,
LITHIUM BATTERIES GET EVERYWHERE THESE DAYS. AIRLINES NEED TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE
HCB MONTHLY | FEBRUARY 2018
pharmaceuticals and perishable goods, which all aim to elevate the level of expertise in the supply chain and achieve global standardisation. It establishes baseline standards to spur improvement in the level of competency and quality management in the handling and carriage of lithium batteries throughout the supply chain, based on the requirements in IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) and Lithium Battery Shipping Regulations (LBSR). IATA has made the move because lithium batteries are among the most problematic cargoes transported by air, especially as their use has increased dramatically in all manner of consumer goods. The growth of e-commerce has only served to further increase their presence in air cargo,
while also bringing new and often informal shippers into the supply chain. The aviation industry has repeatedly voiced concerns over the lack of awareness and also the increasing number of incidents of intentionally mis-declared and non-compliant lithium batteries in cargo shipments, and the needs to address the safety risks to ensure that the security of the supply chain is not compromised. This is what CEIV LiBa seeks to achieve. WHERE TO GO FOR HELP Applicants for certification must successfully pass CEIV LiBa training, followed by an assessment and validation conducted by an Independent Validator to determine compliance of the organisation with the criteria set out in the CEIV LiBa audit checklist. Those organisations may be shippers, freight forwarders, airlines, ground handlers or agents of any of those. The Independent Validator will assess the organisation’s ability to handle and/or transport lithium batteries against the programme’s standards, providing feedback with a detailed list of specific areas where improvement is needed. A final validation will verify that the findings and a gap analysis made during the assessment have been addressed. If all is well, certification is granted, valid for two years; revalidation will require refresher training and a re-assessment. Those organisations that are granted a certificate will be listed on IATA’s ONE Source registry. CEIV LiBa will, IATA says, strive to achieve standardisation and uniformity in the scope, depth and quality of the certification process, focusing on critical operational areas. As with other third-party verification systems, it aims to ensure that all organisations are assessed in a consistent and objective manner using standardised audit checklist and criteria that have been developed to guide the Independent Validator and the organisation through the certification process. Further details of CEIV LiBa, together with links to relevant source material and other resources, and a contact form, can be found on the IATA website at www.iata.org/en/programs/cargo/ dgr/ceiv-lithium-battery/.
