TECH STOP We at Consorcio Aviation and our sister company Consorcio Cargo & Logistics (CC&L) want to offer you as aviation operators, ground handling agents, and cargo forwarders the best possible services. This training is just one of the many steps we take towards the pursuit of excellence.
Just last week (Jan 29th and 30th), our staff at Consorcio Aviation and CC&L participated in the Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) Recurrent course – Category 6. This category is aimed specifically at operators, ground handling agents, and freight forwarders. The IATA instructor and cargo specialist came from Argentina for these 2 days of training (a total of 16 hours!), and addressed topics such as: Emergency procedures, update on the shipment of radioactive materials, update on air waybills, Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods, Notification to Captain requirements, packing, marking and labeling requirements, how to interpret and review the current IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations manual, and much more!
IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR)
IATA stands for International Air Transport Association. IATA represents around 290 of the world’s airlines, which is 82% of all air traffic. Within many aviation activities, this association helps formulate policies for the aviation industry; for instance, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR). IATA follows the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) technical instructions for publishing regulations regarding transport and safe handling of dangerous goods by air. These regulations and requirements are stated in a manual used as a world-wide reference being the only standard accepted by airlines.
Regulations and standards were set for safety. Dangerous goods are all items that may potentially damage an aircraft or people on board. These dangerous goods, also known as hazardous materials (hazmat) vary from household items up to powerful chemicals present in solids, liquids, or gases. More specifically, dangerous goods are organized under nine main classes:
1 Explosives
2 Gases
3 Flammable Liquids
4 Flammable Solids
5 Oxidizing Substances
6 Toxic & Infectious Substances
7 Radioactive Material
8 Corrosives
9 Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods
To guarantee the fulfillment of rules and guidelines, there is a mandatory training for anyone involved with dangerous goods in the aviation industry: shippers and packers, freight forwarders, operators and ground handling agents, as well as security screeners. There are some countries and operators with their own derogations but these are also stated in the IATA manual.
In order to stay up-to-date with the latest ICAO and IATA regulations, there is a mandatory refreshment training within 24 months of the previous one taken (the competent authority of a country may require a sooner refresher). If not done within 24 months, one needs to start back at the initial stage. At the end of the course, there is a final examination where only participants obtaining a grade of 80% or higher are given an IATA Certificate of Completion. There is also a special distinction for a grade of 90% or higher.
To finish off, since not all people involved in aviation need the exact same amount of information, there are categories, as show in the following table:
SOURCES
www.iata.org/training/courses/Pages/dgr-recurrent-cat6-tcgp04.aspx
www.iata.org/training/subject-areas/Pages/dangerous-goods-regulations-courses.aspx
www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/training-faq.pdf
www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Pages/training.aspx
www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Pages/faq.aspx
www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/regulations-transporting-dangerous-goods-air-sea-road-and-rail-transport
www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/enforcement-dangerous-goods-regulations
www.dgiglobal.com/classes
www.aviation-service.de/en/dgr-training/training-categories.html
www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/DGR-Training-Requirements-15.pdf
