Human capital & corporate risk
Nederlands Login

Safety advisor not only mandatory in logistics sector

Does your company work with hazardous materials? If so, a safety advisor is (often) mandatory. A safety advisor is needed if your company transports, loads and/or unloads hazardous materials and cannot apply an exemption regulation. This obligation applies to the transportation of hazardous materials by road, rail and inland waterways. As of 2023, that obligation also applies to consignors of those substances.

Section 1.8.3 of ADR, RID and ADN states which companies must have a safety advisor. The legislation as of 2019 includes the obligation of having a safety advisor also for the (paper) sender, with a transition period until Jan. 1, 2023. As of this date, therefore, a (paper) sender must also appoint a security advisor. A paper sender is a company that is not itself involved in the packaging, loading, filling or unloading of hazardous materials.

Role of safety advisor: how to fill in and what tasks

The role of safety advisor can be filled by training one’s own employee as a safety advisor, hiring a safety advisor, or hiring an outside safety advisor. The safety adviser’s primary task is to ensure that the shipment or transportation of dangerous goods by road, or the related packing, loading, filling or unloading, takes place in the safest possible manner. His duties in particular are:

  • Verifying compliance with legal requirements. In short, is the enterprise working as it should? Performing controls through audits, for example, is one example.
  • Introducing hazard awareness measures associated with dangerous goods.
  • Provide advice to the company when working with dangerous goods.
  • Preparing an annual report for company management
  • Establish appropriate emergency procedures including possible scenarios that may occur during transportation, loading, unloading, packing and/or storage.
  • In the event of an accident, report this in writing to management and any authorities.

Certificate

The safety advisor must hold the Safety Advisor for Transportation of Dangerous Goods certificate. For this, he/she must pass an exam. The certificate is then valid for five years and renewal requires re-examination. If you would like more information about the role of security consultant, please contact our specialists.