Attention to managers and specialists of enterprises engaged in the transportation of dangerous goods by rail

Gospromnadzor informs that the transportation of dangerous goods by rail within the republic must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Rules for ensuring the safety of transportation of dangerous goods by rail (approved by the Resolution of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus of December 28, 2021 No. 85) (hereinafter – the Rules). The transportation in international traffic between the Commonwealth of Independent States countries must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Rules for the transportation of dangerous goods by rail, the Rules for the transportation of liquid bulk cargo in tank cars and bunker-type cars for the transportation of petroleum bitumen, adopted within the framework of the Council for Railway Transport of the CIS Member States. And the transportation in international traffic (except for transportation between the CIS countries) – in accordance with the requirements of the Rules for the transportation of dangerous goods (Appendix 2 to the Agreement on International Railway Freight Traffic).

In order to organize compliance with safety requirements for the transportation of dangerous goods by rail, employees of consignors/consignees and other organizations involved in the transportation of dangerous goods must undergo training and knowledge testing of the Rules' requirements, and take appropriate safety measures depending on the nature and scale of the potential hazard.

Training, including the initial and/or retraining of the above-mentioned employees, is carried out in specialized training organizations. Training of employees in a distance learning format is not provided.

A certificate of training for a specialist responsible for the safety of transporting dangerous goods by rail (in the form established by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus) is issued after successfully passing the qualification examination at Gospromnadzor according to the program developed by the Civil Protection University of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus. The validity period of the specialist's certificate is five years.

Employees who have undergone training (retraining) and passed the exam shall be appointed by order of the head of the enterprise (organization) as responsible persons for the transportation of dangerous goods and/or the performance of loading and unloading operations with dangerous goods, and their functions as responsible persons shall be set out in the job description and/or work instructions or in the order (directive) on the appointment of responsible persons.

For reference: transportation of dangerous goods means the set of organizational and technological operations for the movement of dangerous goods using vehicles from their place of dispatch to their destination, carried out on a contractual basis or on other legal grounds, including loading (filling), unloading (emptying), stops, parking and any time spent by dangerous goods in vehicles, tanks and containers required by the terms of carriage, as well as intermediate temporary storage of dangerous goods for the purpose of changing the mode of transport or vehicle (transshipment, transloading).