Minister Requests Another Safety Review to Improve Safeguards for Transportation of Dangerous Goods

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Federal Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, recently requested the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities to conduct an in-depth review of the Canadian regime regarding the safe transportation of dangerous goods and the role of safety management systems across all modes of transportation. Access the letter from the Parlimentary Committee website.

The minister expects the committee to submit an interim report by June 2014 and to present the committee’s findings in a final report by December 2014. Specifically, the committee is being asked to consider the following questions:

Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG):

• What additional measures could be taken to strengthen TDG safety across all modes of transportation?
• How does Canada’s TDG regime compare to that of the United States?
• Should the implementation of safety management systems be adjusted to provide a greater focus on the transportation of dangerous goods?

Safety Management Systems (SMS):

• What is the current state of SMS implementation in all modes of transportation?
• Has the implementation of SMS improved the safety of our transportation regime?
• What additional measures could be taken to further improve the adoption and integration of SMS in all transportation modes (air, marine, and rail)?

Several chemicals used routinely in water and wastewater treatment are subject to the current TDG requirements. While responsibility for compliance is on the suppliers of these chemicals, our members should be aware that changes to the regime could be coming.

Back to Canadian Water and Wastewater Association eBulletin