Last week I collected a Pallet with 4 X 25Ltr Drums of a Class 8 product. These drums had been taped to the pallet. All looked fine but I checked the tops, all the tops were loose. There was no seal on either top.
I went back to the Goods Out and asked the chap if there was a reason these hadn’t been sealed up? His reply was that they had just checked the product hence no seal.
Didn’t seem right to me, my Gaffer said if the tops are tight i9ts OK.
Am I right in thinking I should have refused to carry them?
I would say you should have refused them, you know what gaffers are like they don’t care as long as they are getting paid for collecting it.
I’ve refused to pick up similar items in the past and as I always tell the gaffer, if I’m driving and it’s my licence I have the final say! 
I needed something to refer to, something to show my Gaffer that I shouldn’t be picking these up. Otherwise, it’s my word against the World.
.Oh come on, get on with it! Tighten the lids, strap them lightly and don’t ■■■■■■■ crash, it’s a hard time to earn money so just get on with the ■■■■■■■ job or ■■■■ off! realistically the load won’t kill you so just deliver it and save people the excuses.
.If we are going by the book, you should probably refuse the load and give your boss a bit of grief, he can’t get rid of you for complaining, especially if it’s a legit reason. Your life could be in danger!
^^ out of the two above, I would probably just take them with out refusing or kicking up a fuss, but that’s just me.
I forgot to add… If it was a taker load or 45 gallon drums maybe it would be different. But 25ltr drums, and only 4. Was it a one off?
ibson:
.^ out of the two above, I would probably just take them with out refusing or kicking up a fuss, but that’s just me.
For me it all depends on what exactly is in the containers! A guy where I used to work picked up an IBC that wasn’t sealed properly and it leaked.
It cost the company £10,000 in clean up costs and £10,000 in fines when the environment agency took them to court. The driver got sacked and ended up with £400 costs to pay and a £400 fine.
It’s a hard one when you carrying chemicals but if you think there is even a small chance it can leak don’t risk it, you could ask from them to resealed.
Also if you where to have any kind of incident with them on the road the person who loaded them onto your truck is also liable for prosecution too. That seems to be over looked by a lot of forklift truck drivers who think sole blame lies with the driver!
dpt2011:
ibson:
.^ out of the two above, I would probably just take them with out refusing or kicking up a fuss, but that’s just me.For me it all depends on what exactly is in the containers! A guy where I used to work picked up an IBC that wasn’t sealed properly and it leaked.
It cost the company £10,000 in clean up costs and £10,000 in fines when the environment agency took them to court. The driver got sacked and ended up with £400 costs to pay and a £400 fine.
It’s a hard one when you carrying chemicals but if you think there is even a small chance it can leak don’t risk it, you could ask from them to resealed.
Also if you where to have any kind of incident with them on the road the person who loaded them onto your truck is also liable for prosecution too. That seems to be over looked by a lot of forklift truck drivers who think sole blame lies with the driver!
An IBC holds a ■■■■ sight more that 25ltrs though and I would probably check it first! I completely understand where your coming from, I’m just saying if I could tighten the lids (or like you said, get them re-sealed) I would. That would be enough for me to take the risk, so long as it was only one pallet of 4 x 25ltr drums.
I have just got into the habit off checking the lids on any receptacle I pick up, from IBC to 205 ltr drums and even sauce bottles in the supermarket.
I certainly wouldn’t refuse them outright
Yorkysays:-:
Last week I collected a Pallet with 4 X 25Ltr Drums of a Class 8 product. These drums had been taped to the pallet. All looked fine but I checked the tops, all the tops were loose. There was no seal on either top.
I went back to the Goods Out and asked the chap if there was a reason these hadn’t been sealed up? His reply was that they had just checked the product hence no seal.
Didn’t seem right to me, my Gaffer said if the tops are tight i9ts OK.
Am I right in thinking I should have refused to carry them?
Hi Yorkiesays:,
There’s no problem with missing seals if the tops were removed for checking, but from a legal point of view, the tops should have been reclosed and tightened correctly. (Seals are not a legal requirement.)
Also, from a legal point of view, you could have refused to load that consignment and been well within your rights. However, and in practice, there’s also no problem if you took ibson’s advice and reclosed the drums yourself.
For ease of reading, I’ve removed some parts from the following quote from ADR but without altering the parts that DO apply.
ADR 4.1.1.1
Dangerous goods shall be packed in good quality packagings, … which shall be strong enough to withstand the shocks and loadings normally encountered during carriage, including trans-shipment between transport units and between transport units and warehouses as well as any removal from a pallet or overpack for subsequent manual or mechanical handling. Packagings, … shall be constructed and closed so as to prevent any loss of contents when prepared for transport which might be caused under normal conditions of transport, by vibration, or by changes in temperature, humidity or pressure (resulting from altitude, for example). Packagings … shall be closed in accordance with the information provided by the manufacturer.
You can bet your life that the package manufacturer didn’t provide information that said that it’s OK to leave the tops loose.
Thanks Dave.
I’ve collected loads of Haz IBCs and this is the only time I’d collected small amounts, was unsure of the correct procedure regards seals etc, but it’s all clear now, Cheers.
Yorkysays:-:
Thanks Dave.I’ve collected loads of Haz IBCs and this is the only time I’d collected small amounts, was unsure of the correct procedure regards seals etc, but it’s all clear now, Cheers.
Hi yorkiesays:,
The procedure is exactly the same as in the above quote (ADR 4.1.1.1) for IBCs too.
IBCs must be correctly closed as per the package manufacturer’s spec, but seals aren’t legally required by ADR.