If either you or your staff packs, or supervises an individual who packs, dangerous goods for transport by air (including enclosing the goods in packaging, or marking or labeling the consignment or preparing a shipper’s declaration) then you are required by the Civil Aviation Safety Regulation Part 92 (CASR 92) to ensure that both you and your staff receive dangerous goods training on a Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approved course from 1st July 2004 and every two years thereafter.
What is covered?
Classes of Dangerous Goods Covered:
- Class 2.2 (e.g. liquid nitrogen)
- Class 3 (e.g. methanol, ethanol or formaldehyde solutions)
- Class 6.2 (e.g. infectious substances, biological substances, patient specimens)
- Class 9 (e.g. dry ice, genetically modified micro-organisms)
Please note that for dangerous goods outside of these categories i.e. chemicals or radioactive material, a three (3) day Dangerous Goods Acceptance and Shippers Course must be completed.
Who should attend?
The current government legislation requires that all those who pack, mark, label or complete the paperwork associated with the shipping of these items (i.e. dangerous goods) must be trained. Therefore anyone who places a sample of the above in packaging or uses dry ice (or liquid nitrogen) as a refrigerant for any shipment (regardless of the content) must be approved.
This would include researchers, laboratory managers, laboratory technicians, stores persons, nursing staff, medical practitioners, veterinary industry personnel and some administrative staff to name but a few. Basically anyone who has anything to do with the process from the point of the sample (dangerous goods) being placed in packaging for shipping, the completion of the packing process, the marking and labeling of that package and the completion of the documentation cannot do so unless trained. Some courier companies are now requiring proof of certification prior to a pick up. We expect that this will continue to grow as part of the normal procedure into the future.
Where many discrepancies arise is the supervision of this process. If the supervisor is actively involved in the shipping process they must also be trained. However, regardless of this, the person being supervised must also hold the approval – the supervisor alone does not meet the requirements of the legislation. All those associated with the process must be approved.
It is also important (but not required) to train those who receive packages in order that they are aware of the correct packaging and can identify one that may perhaps have been incorrectly packaged and hence deal with it appropriately. Many organizations conduct this training for their stores/receiving staff as part of their risk mitigation program.
Common items shipped that would require this training include animal specimens, plant materials, tissues samples, dry ice in order to refrigerate a sample, bloods, ethanol solutions, human samples etc. One of the common misconceptions at this time is that most of these items can be hand carried (i.e. in your checked in baggage or hand luggage on a flight) which is in actual fact illegal and as such you must be a trained shipper to ship these items throughout Australia and overseas. It is also a common belief that those shipping biological substances need not be trained – this is also incorrect as biological substances (now referred to as Biological Substances, Category B but also previously called Diagnostic Specimens or Clinical Specimens) are classified as a Class 6.2 dangerous good and as such can only be shipped by an approved person (i.e. one who has completed the training course).
Some departments may also use Australia Post for the shipping of some samples – they still must be trained regardless of whether a courier or Australia Post is used as they are the shipper – the courier for example just acts as the transport agent.
The Civil Aviation Academy has developed a CASA approved and CASR 92 compliant training package.
Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Define and describe Federal and International Regulations as they apply to the packaging and shipping of dangerous goods.
- Describe their legal responsibilities in accordance with Federal and International Regulations.
- Determine the limitations for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Air in accordance with the ICAO and IATA Regulations.
- Recognise articles and substances which have dangerous properties and be aware of the procedures for their classification.
- Use the IATA Dangerous Goods List to identify requirements for different dangerous goods.
- Identify and classify the material to be shipped.
- Describe the proper techniques for packaging, marking, labeling, documenting and shipping dangerous goods.
- Select the correct packaging by applying the correct Packing Instructions and General Packing Requirements in accordance with ICAO and IATA Regulations.
- Accurately apply the correct marking and labeling to packaging in accordance with ICAO and IATA Regulations.
- Correctly apply State and Operator Variations when applicable.
- Complete and check transport documentation in accordance with ICAO and IATA Regulations.
- Offer correctly prepared dangerous goods for consignments by air in accordance with current ICAO and IATA Regulations.
- Be aware of procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency associated with dangerous goods.
Method of Delivery
All courses can be conducted by either tutorial sessions (please note these sessions will be conducted by our CASA approved Dangerous Goods facilitators) or via correspondence.
Tutorial Company Specific Courses
Company specific courses are available, please contact Civil Aviation Academy Australasia for further details.
Correspondence Course
Correspondence Courses are issued in a variety of formats. Your organisation can elect to either standardise the format for all employees or you simply list the format required when placing your order.
Formats available
- Hard copy full colour bound workbook (workbooks are approx 100 pages and include the review questions).
- CD-ROM – Includes a workbook in PDF format and review questions in word format.
- Via E-mail – Includes a workbook in PDF format and review questions in word format.
Should your organisation use an intranet we can also issue a copy which can then be accessed by your staff as required.
The full colour workbook will guide the participant to answer a series of questions at the end of each section. The review questions are open book. It takes approximately 6-7 hours to complete the correspondence course. Whilst doing the course, if the participant has any queries, they can contact us by email or phone (free call 1800 754 774) and their Facilitator will guide them through their query.
The correspondence course includes:
- The Course Workbook and set of Review Questions;
- Facilitator assistance whilst completing the course;
- Certificate of Approval upon completion of the course plus a Feedback Sheet on the answers to the Review Questions;
- Updates and changes made to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations;
- Notification for renewal approx. 3 months prior to the expiry of the certificate.
The cost of the correspondence course is $99.00 per person (inc. GST) plus $7.00 postage and handling for the initial mail out of the course and later the Certificate of Currency and Review Feedback.
