Training, responsibilities and safety culture
What this domain tests
Questions here test who must be trained under the Code, what the training must cover and how often it is refreshed, and how responsibilities are divided between shipper, forwarder, packer, carrier and master.
Training requirements
- Shore-side personnel whose duties involve dangerous goods must be trained before taking up those duties, to a level appropriate to their responsibility. That covers classification, packing, marking and labelling, documentation, stowage and segregation, and emergency response measures.
- Training records must be kept and made available; refresher training is required at intervals not exceeding three years.
- Crew are trained through the ship's safety management system and familiarisation, in addition to any certificate training.
Responsibilities
- The shipper classifies the goods, selects packagings, marks and labels, and prepares the transport document.
- The packer completes the container packing certificate.
- The carrier must not accept a consignment without the required documents, and the master retains overall responsibility for stowage and the safety of the ship.
- Chapter 1.4 adds security provisions: security awareness, a security plan where applicable and measures against unlawful interference.
Safety culture
- Near-miss reporting without blame, routine audits of declarations and packing, toolbox briefings before loading, and a clear escalation route when a document looks wrong. A clerk who queries an odd declaration is exercising the safety culture the Code depends on.
Worked example
A warehouse operator only picks and stages packages for loading. Reasoning: the duties involve dangerous goods, so training is required, proportionate to the task (marking and label recognition, handling, damage checks). Records must be kept and refresher training given within three years; a qualification from many years ago with no refresher does not satisfy the Code.
Traps
- Assuming only the named dangerous goods officer needs training.
- Believing a training certificate never expires.
- Treating the shipper's declaration as the carrier's responsibility to verify content.