The Dangerous Goods Office Limited, with its unrivalled experience, offers aviation dangerous goods training and consultancy to industry and regulators around the world.
As demonstrated by the tragic loss of Valujet flight 592 in May 1996, when 110 people lost their lives, it is imperative that dangerous goods, both in cargo and baggage, are prepared and handled for air transport in accordance with very stringent international requirements. All of the various parties involved, be they regulators, shippers, pilots or loading staff play a vital role in ensuring dangerous goods pose no danger to an aircraft, its occupants or ground staff.
Everyone involved in the carriage of dangerous goods and cargo and baggage are legally required to be trained “commensurate with their responsibilities” (i.e. staff only need training in those aspects of the subject which they are likely to encounter). It is a popular misconception that successfully completing a 3-day general International Air Transport Association (IATA) Category 1 (shippers) course qualifies someone to ship any type of dangerous goods. This is well illustrated by the subject of lithium batteries; the 3-day general course will pay very brief attention to lithium batteries and there will only be 1 question in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exam which a student can get wrong but still pass the exam and so be “qualified”!
Consequently, we offer a range of bespoke training courses including a 2-day IATA category 1 training course specifically on lithium batteries, thus ensuring staff are compliant with the requirements, but also importantly, not incurring time away from their day job undergoing training which is not relevant. All training concludes with a test to verify understanding, as required by ICAO and IATA and specific to lithium batteries, with successful candidates being awarded a CAA student registration number.
We can also provide training in the differences for the transport of packaged dangerous goods by road and sea.