Dangerous Goods Training

Dangerous Goods Courses

Operators, shippers and handling agents must incorporate training for all relevant staff with responsibilities concerning the carriage of Dangerous Goods by passengers, as cargo, within mail or as stores.

Such personnel must be trained or training must be verified prior to them performing related duty. Recurrent training must be completed within twenty-four months and these training records must be retained and made available on request by TTCAA Inspectors.

Some entities develop their own training programmes, whereas others use a training provider to provide training directly. When generic training is used, it should be supplemented with a review of the entity’s own Dangerous Goods procedures to ensure that any processes which are specific to the particular operator or entity are understood.

Who should do a Dangerous Goods course?

       i.     Shippers – including packers and persons/organisations undertaking the shipper’s responsibilities

      ii.     Personnel who accept – People who are directly involved in accepting Dangerous Goods for transport by air

     iii.     General Cargo only – People who only accept general cargo and who do not accept Dangerous Goods

     iv.      Flight crew, load planners and cabin crew

     v.       Other aviation industry personnel

Shippers

The successful application of regulations concerning the transport of Dangerous Goods and achieving their objectives are greatly dependent on the appreciation of the hazards and risks involved, and on a detailed understanding of the ICAO Technical Instructions.

Personnel employed to handle Dangerous Goods by air must do an appropriate TTCAA-approved Dangerous Goods course. Anyone who is involved in the following are required to be certified and current:

    •      enclose the goods in packaging

    •      mark or label the consignment

    •      handle and place the goods in storage

    •      prepare a shipper’s declaration

Personnel who accept – Persons who are directly involved in accepting Dangerous Goods for transport by air

This includes employees of aircraft operators, ground handling agents and freight forwarders.

These persons must do a ‘Dangerous Goods Acceptance’ course. Such a course (known as Dangerous Goods Category 6 training) will bear, as a minimum, aspects as detailed in Table 1-4 of the ICAO Technical Instructions.

General cargo only – Persons who only accept general cargo and who do not accept Dangerous Goods

These personnel must do a TTCAA-approved ‘Dangerous Goods Awareness’ course.

Flight crew, load planners and cabin crew

These personnel are required to complete an appropriate TTCAA-approved ‘Dangerous Goods Awareness’ course.

Other industry personnel

Other employees of Operators, Ground handling agents, freight forwarders and security screening agents are required to be trained before they commence their duties and re-trained every twenty-four months. Persons who require to be trained in a TTCAA-approved Dangerous Goods course, and remain current in certification include:

      •    Staff accepting dangerous goods;

      •    Staff accepting cargo, mail or stores (other than dangerous goods);

      •     Staff responsible for handling, storage and loading of cargo, mail or stores and baggage;

      •      Passenger handling staff;

      •      Passenger reservations staff;

      •      Cargo reservations staff;

      •      Operations staff;

      •      Freight Office reception staff;

      •      Security screeners, their supervisors and staff involved in implementing security procedures;

      •      Engineering and Maintenance staff;

      •      Postal operations staff.

Training Requirement

Click on the Link Table 1-4 of the ICAO Technical Instructions to identify the level of training required prior to a person being allowed to perform any duty. If in doubt, please contact a Dangerous Goods Inspector, Safety Regulation Division, TTCAA.

For more information, click on TAC-043