Dangerous Goods List and special provisions
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether you can read a Dangerous Goods List (DGL) entry across its columns and know what a special provision does to the requirements. It is the most operational part of the Code.
Reading the row
- The entry starts with the UN number and the proper shipping name (PSN), followed by class or division, subsidiary risk, packing group and the special provisions in column 6.
- Later columns give the limited quantity value (7a), the excepted quantity code (7b), the packing instruction (P for packagings, IBC for intermediate bulk containers, LP for large packagings), portable tank provisions, the EmS schedule and the stowage and segregation codes.
- Column 15 gives the EmS fire and spill schedules (for example F-A, S-B); the last columns carry stowage requirements and segregation codes.
Special provisions
- Numbered special provisions can add a requirement (extra marking, a stowage restriction, a condition on the packing) or relax one; some remove a substance from the Code for defined carriage. Always read them before concluding a substance is unregulated or fully regulated.
- Special provision 274 requires the technical name to be added in brackets after the PSN for N.O.S. entries, both in documentation and in package marking.
Worked example
A document shows 'UN 1993, FLAMMABLE LIQUID, N.O.S., class 3, PG II'. Reasoning: the entry is a generic N.O.S. entry, special provision 274 applies, so the declaration is incomplete. It should read, for example, 'UN 1993, FLAMMABLE LIQUID, N.O.S. (toluene), class 3, PG II'. The same row's column 7a would give the limited quantity limit for PG II, and column 8 the packaging instruction.
Traps
- Stopping at the class column and ignoring special provisions.
- Using an N.O.S. entry as a catch-all without a technical name.
- Reading the LQ or EQ column and assuming it permits the shipment.