Transport of hazardous materials

The transport of dangerous goods, by virtue of its widespread distribution and proximity to populated areas, gives rise to public fears of disproportionately catastrophic accidents.

However, the actual degree of exposure of the population to these transports is much lower than the feared virtual risks:

• The number of accidents involving vehicles transporting hazardous materials, whether simple traffic accidents (nearly two out of three) or accidents in which the material is involved (leakage, fire, etc.), is around 150 to 200 every year in France, i.e. only 1.5% of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles, despite the fact that these vehicles account for over 15% of heavy goods vehicle traffic.

• Fortunately, 80% of these accidents occur in open country and have no impact on the population.

• A high concentration of traffic, 75% of it in tanker vehicles, within structured transport groups where specialization and professionalism are the rule, characterizes the business and sets it radically apart from the rest of the road haulage sector, where atomization persists.

It's true that regulation, through its complexity, acts as a barrier to the entry of new competitors into the market, and thus plays a decisive role in setting this sector apart from other transport sectors by restricting access to freight, and above all by the spirit of security it has developed between the players.

The transport of dangerous goods is subject to compliance with very strict regulations laid down by national and/or international public authorities for each mode of transport. There are a number of reasons why company directors should not lose interest in the way their dangerous goods shipments are handled:

• public safety imperative: particular attention must be paid to the quality of transport operations, which must, under all circumstances, be carried out in strict compliance with regulatory safety obligations, so that the potential for dramatic events does not become a bitter reality;

• criminal co-responsibility of the carrier's principal in the event of an infringement; the latter may be held liable even if the infringements were committed without his knowledge;

• the company manager's general obligation to prevent workplace accidents. The law (art. L.4121-1 of the French Labor Code) requires all employers to protect the health and safety of their employees by taking preventive action against the risks identified in the risk assessment document created by Decree no. 2001-1016 of November 5, 2001. In this area, employers are bound by an obligation...