Recently, the Canadian General Standard Board (CGSB) released its first draft of the new National Standard of Canada CAN/CGSB-192.3 entitled “Transportation of Dangerous Goods Training, Assessment and Competency”. The proposed competency describes the capability of performing tasks pertaining to the transportation of dangerous goods (TDG), which is developed through the acquisition of knowledge, skill, and ability. The proposed standard outlines training, assessment, and competency requirements for persons who handle, offer for transport or transport dangerous goods by road, rail, marine, and air in Canada.
The addressees, including CARS, were given 60 days to comment on the proposed standard. Once the Standard is finalized and published, an amendment will be proposed to Part 6 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, which would allow the Standard to be incorporated by reference.
Based on the request, CARS GR Staff responded to the proposed standard by recommending two amendments. In the first proposed amendment, CARS voiced a strong opinion about the training envisioned of minimum two hours for general awareness instruction – which was deemed woefully inadequate. Considering that the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) consists of 720+ pages, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act (TDGA) is over 30 pages - it was strongly recommended that the minimum training hours be changed from two hours to five hours.
The second recommendation was based on a prerequisite, which appeared to be missing from the proposed standard, namely: some basic training in the use fire fighting equipment and techniques. When reviewing other national TDG training packages and requirements, it makes sense to include such training as a critical element of the standard. The use of firefighting equipment, and relevant basic training by those persons responsible for the transportation of dangerous goods (especially by road) could make a critical difference between a controllable incident (by the driver on the scene) and the need for a full-fledged ERAP response (firefighters, police, medical staff, etc.).