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AIR • WOULD YOU CONSULT LAST YEAR’S NEWSPAPER TO GET TODAY’S NEWS? PROBABLY NOT, SO WHY DO SOME THINK IT’S OK TO CONSULT LAST YEAR’S REGULATIONS TO SHIP DG TODAY?

EVERY BUSINESS TRIES to cut costs whenever possible and it makes sense to assess what are nice-to-haves and musthaves in terms of resources and tools to get a job done right. But, just as evidently, nobody wants to take a chance on safety.

Safety is the number one priority for anyone shipping dangerous goods by air and is at the forefront of every decision they make. Air cargo touches so many players in the transport chain that when a business takes the risk, even an unintentional one, of not being compliant with the latest shipping standards, the entire chain is impacted. So a first step is to ensure that everyone is using the same version of the regulations.

The cost of cargo reference manuals, whether new or renewals, can seem significant and may seem like a potential place to cut costs by skipping a year or two, using previous editions in between renewals. But that approach introduces the risk that someone in the transport chain is using out-of-date standards and is out of step with players up and down the chain.

For those consigning dangerous goods by air, the gold standard is the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), the 61st edition of which takes effect on 1 January 2020. HCB caught up with David Brennan, assistant director of cargo safety and standards at IATA HCB: Why is it important to have the latest version of the DGR every year? DB: Because things change faster than every two years. It is critical for any business shipping dangerous goods by air to be confident knowing the most recent standards are being followed for the safe and efficient transport of those goods which are, by definition, dangerous. Many a time I’ve had someone tell me they had been fined - sometimes quite heavily - for not being

compliant with x or y update to a regulation and first thing I do is ask them what version of the DGR they were using. In every single instance, it is an older version. You just can’t take that chance. HCB: What’s new in the 2020 edition of the DGR? DB: There are significant changes in the 2020 edition of the DGR. For example, restrictions on the movement of certain goods have been relaxed a bit, providing more options to industry. Also, the application of marks, where some inexperienced people were not placing them where they needed to be. Now we’ve made it explicit that they must always appear on one side of the package, they cannot be wrapped around a corner.

There are also new standards for composite packaging. Appendix H covers competency-based training, a huge concern for training providers and employers. It’s important to get this information in 2020 before the competency-based training comes into effect at the beginning of 2021. Those are just a few examples. HCB: What would you advise someone in the air cargo chain when it comes to compliance? DB: Compliance means reducing the risk of something going wrong that might put passengers, airline employees, ground staff and everybody else in the transport chain at potential risk. It is very important to always use the most up to date regulations to maintain that compliance. It saves money, time and improves safety. It is good for your business to do it properly.

In addition to an updated edition of the DGR, there are all the other IATA manuals (such as special cargo or cargo operations) that provide the same level of confidence to the user, knowing the very latest regulations and standards are at their fingertips. For convenience, the 2020 manuals are also available in digital formats that are compatible with Windows, Android and Apple operating systems, making it more convenient to reference these manuals while on the go.

Every business needs to know the best and latest practices to maintain the quality of its cargo services when handling and shipping dangerous goods or other cargo commodities such as perishables, pharmaceuticals or live animals. HCB

The 2020 IATA manuals including the DGR manual are available to order by visiting bit. ly/2020manuals. HCB will return next month with a more detailed investigation of the changes that appear in the 2020 edition of the DGR.