* This site was last updated on 25th February 2008 *

Website Changes

25/2/08

We are pleased to announce that we have now received our approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to allow us to present Dangerous Goods by Air courses. Dates and more information will be posted soon.

5/7/07

The new UK Dangerous Goods Carriage Regulations have been introduced, and came in to force on 1st July.

20/10/06

It is with great sadness that we must report the death of our co-founder, mentor and good friend, Trevor Ashworth.

We're sure all those who've met Trev over the years will share our sorrow at his loss, and echo our sincere condolences to his wife Sue. He will be sadly missed.

17/7/06

RoadSafe Europe are now pleased to announce that we can offer full ADR driver training as part of the National Dangerous Goods Training Consortium. Click HERE for details. However, please note that due to a change in the administering body of ADR, the cost of each exam is now £20.00.

15/7/05

The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2005 came into force on 22nd July 2005.

16/6/05

A new page dedicated to the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 added. {Click}

11/6/04

Link to the new Approved List of Biological Agents added to the TOXICS (Class 6.2) page. {click}

Recent Legislation and events

Transport:

The Working Time Directive:

The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005, which implement the Road Transport (Working Time) Directive - 2002/15/EC, came into force on 4th April 2005.
The new rules apply to commercial drivers and crews of Heavy Goods Vehicles and Public Service Vehicles in the UK, formal guidance on implementation is available on the DfT website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/freight/rtd.

The main provisions of the new Regulations are:

• weekly working time is limited to an average of 48 hours (normally calculated over a four-month reference period);

• a maximum of 60 hours work can be performed in a single week, so long as the average 48-hour limit is maintained;

• night workers are restricted to 10 hours working time in any 24-hour period;

• requirements relating to breaks that workers must be allowed.

Self-employed drivers will not be covered by the new Regulations until March 2009.

Additionally, where there is either a collective agreement or a workforce agreement at company level between the employer and employees, companies will be able to use the derogations available under the Directive:-

• the 4-month reference period for calculating the average 48-hour week can be extended to 6 months;

• the 10-hour limit (over a 24-hour period) for night workers can be exceeded, although the 60-hour weekly limit will still apply, and drivers will still have to respect the EU drivers' hours rules.

The definition of 'night time' is a period between 00.00-04.00 for drivers and crew of goods vehicles, and 01.00-05.00 for drivers and crew of passenger vehicles,  workers who occasionally perform road transport activities will be subject to the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) rather than these Regulations.
The Regulations will be enforced in the UK by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) whose response will be "proportionate", with an onus on educating employers and workers.

Waste:

The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005

The UK's old Special Waste regulations were swept away on 16th July 2005. The new Hazardous Waste Regulations bring about dramatic changes for both waste producers and companies disposing of the waste.

In addition several items have now been reclassified as Hazardous Waste, potentially catching out companies who currently handle them. They are:

1. Refrigerators and freezers containing CFC's in their cooling system, or as a blowing agent in their foam insulation.

2. Computer equipment. (It is estimated that by now, over 1.5million PC's  have been landfilled in the UK)^†

3. Fluorescent light tubes. (80million are landfilled in the UK annually)^†

^{† Source: The Environment Agency, 2003}

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RoadSafe Europe Limited - +44 (0)23 8070 2576 - dgsa@roadsafeeurope.com