SLOPPY STANDARDS
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New regulations have come into force requiring dangerous goods drivers to pass tough exams. But in practice many drivers are unlikely to take these exams until the end of 1994, leaving UK standards well behind those of other EC states. • On 1 July, UK drivers carrying dangerous goods had cause to panic. A law came into force stipulating that drivers carrying dangerous goods in road tankers and tank containers, and all drivers carrying explosives, have to take tough new training courses followed by an exam. For many drivers this is the first time in their professional lives that they have been legally required to take an exam. If they don't pass, they don't drive.
The EC directive which initiated the change in UK law, (the Council Directive on vocational training for certain drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods by road (89/684/EEC)), was published in 1989. But despite having three years warning, the British Government was appallingly slow to set up the training structure necessary to comply with the new UK law, Road Traffic (training of drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods) Regulations 1992, or to educate drivers about the changes.
Everything was left until the last minute: it was only this year that the exams, set and marked by the City & Guilds of London Institute, were written. Of the few training centres which are offering the courses and exams, some have yet to be approved by City & Guilds, which is acting on behalf of the Department of Transport. And many hauliers still appear unaware of the changes in the law.
The reason the UK is being so slow is because the directive includes a temporary get-out clause. In addition to the three years' warning since 1989, EC states are allowed until the end of 1994 to train all their drivers to the new standards. Until this date drivers can continue to work without having passed the exam as long as they have applied for and received a "transitional" certificate from the Health and Safety Executive. Drivers carrying dangerous goods in packages don't have to get transitional certificates because they don't have to comply with the directive until 1995.
Anyone who had previously received the standard Hazchem training under the Road Tanker Regulations 1981 could have got a transitional certificate — the final date for application was 1 July. If a driver has not applied for a temporary certificate, and has not taken the new exams, then he cannot drive. There are two transitional certificates: one just for domestic journeys, and the other an ADR-style certificate for EC-wide journeys.
Ray Mansell, project manager for the dangerous goods exams at City & Guilds, says 22,189 temporary certificates have been handed out by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea. The DVLA is also responsible for awarding certificates once drivers have passed the new exams.
Despite this extra two-and-a-half year breathing space, the casual approach of the UK Government to enforcing the new rules is causing numerous anxieties across the industry. One worry is that the transitional ADR-style certificates from the DVLA will not be recognised at other EC borders.
A Health and Safety Executive spokesman says: "The EC has been informed and we are confident they will be recognised." However, many in the industry are worried that they will not. Tony Cook, the Road Haulage Association's controller of hazardous and bulk goods, says: "We are sitting on the edges of our seats in anticipation of the possibility of drivers being turned back at borders."
Dick Juby is an employee of Road Transport Industry Training Board Services and former administrator of the National (Dangerous Substances) Driver Training Scheme, which aims to maintain training standards at more than 40 training centres and was sponsored by the RHA. He says: "The temporary ADR-style certificates are definitely a moot point, but we just have to take the HSE's word for it and hope for the best. If they aren't accepted, all dangerous goods trade to Europe from the UK will stop."
CERTIFICATES
European haulier S Jones Transport Services Group of Aldridge, West Midlands has 60 of the transitional ADR certificates, at a cost of £300 (each costs £5). Transport director Tony Sayce says the company was worried that the certificates would not be accepted at borders, but that the old ADR certificates were hardly ever checked at borders anyway, so it was unlikely the new ones would be looked at.
Sayce is ashamed at the snail's pace with which the UK is conforming with the EC law. "We are at the bottom of the pit," he says. He recognised the problem of poor training in the UK years ago. S Jones has a Dutch office and Sayce spotted the contrast between training in the UK and training in the Netherlands. Under Dutch law, which has been in force for 10 years, all drivers have to take tough exams which comply with the new legislation.
Rinus Beckers, transport manager in S Jones Dutch office, agrees that standards in the UK are comparatively "too slack at the moment". Portugal is also a dunce in Europe when it comes to training dangerous goods drivers. The 1989 EC directive included a special provision allowing Portugal to wait until 1995 before beginning to set up training centres.
Another concern is that the new courses and exams may be flawed because they have been designed in a hurry. The courses are modular and require up to two hours of exams and five days of studying (see panel).
There is also concern that not many training centres have yet been approved. So far 47 training centres have been approved, according to City & Guilds, and every approved centre will be inspected within a year to check that it has sufficient equipment and accommodation and that the instructors are competent.
Ron Wyld is training co-ordinator at S Jones, which, as well as being a haulier also runs a training centre. S Jones is one of the first to offer the new courses and exams although it has no confirmation from City & Guilds that the centre is approved. Wyld has so far run three courses even though he has no idea of the pass rate of any of them. "I am waiting with some trepidation but we had to go ahead," he says.
He believes that while the courses and exams under the new system are more thorough, in some ways they are not well thought out. "They are more academic and less hands-on. For example, the training doesn't require a live demonstration of chemical reactions and instead relies on a video which does not have the same impact. We will continue to offer live demonstrations."
ACADEMIC
Ron Freemantle, dangerous goods trainer at Teesside Transport in Middlesborough agrees that the new course is more academic. He says it is trying to "make drivers into chemists" a move which he thinks is unnecessary. "Experienced drivers know what to do but they don't necessarily know the chemistry behind their actions. Why should they?"
Dick Juby of RTITB Services believes that the new course is "more thorough" but that some exam questions are too technical. He is also concerned that City & Guilds is not providing unique exam papers for every sitting.
Tony Cook of the RHA and Dick Juby argue that even if the courses and exams are reasonable, time has unnecessarily been wasted while they were being devised. They argue that the National Scheme could have been adopted as the approved examing body instead of City & Guilds. Centres which were members of the National Scheme already held exams before the new regulations came in and were moving towards a modular course similar to the new City & Guilds course. They both think that the DOT has "reinvented the wheel" as Juby puts it, "which has lost Britain a lot of time."
IMPRESSION
The new courses take longer and are more expensive. S Jones is running a five-day course that costs £329. Under Hazchem and Hazpac it ran a three-day course for £200. Wyld is concerned that a lot of hauliers are still under the impression that the training is not compulsory. "Hauliers are certainly not queuing up to take the exam," he says. "And they don't want to pay but they will have to. I think a tremendous number will wait until the last minute."
Peter O'Shea, director of training company TDT Management Services, which has three centres in Colchester, Faversham and Bishops Stortford, has got approval for his centre from City & Guilds. Before the change in the law he ran a two-day all-purpose course costing £100 and attendees had to pass one exam. Now he offers a four-day course costing £250. His first course will run in September.
Although he says he has had a good response to advertisements for his course he says "It's the ones which don't ring which worry us," He believes that many hauliers failed to get the temporary certificates because they didn't know about the changes in the law and missed the 1 July deadline. For them, the scramble is on to get trained, or face breaking the law.
by Mary Williams