The importance of abiding by the UN packaging regulations has been highlighted after Brooks Discount Limited pleaded guilty in Bournemouth Magistrates court to an offence of failing to abide by the transport of dangerous goods regulations. The court fined Brooks Discount Limited £5000, and ordered costs of £1050 to injured employees and £12000 to the CAA.

The breach of the regulations came to light after the failure of a 1 litre container, containing drain cleaner. Drain cleaner is comprised of a high concentration of sulphuric acid, carrying UN mark 1830, and thus must be contained in a UN approved container for shipping purposes. In this case the container was not UN certified and it failed in transport, leading to injuries to two postal workers who had handled the package, and causing the evacuation of the postal sorting facilities.

The case highlights the importance of UN testing, as these tests would have ensured the packaged used would not have failed, and protected the postal workers, and the prospects of a bigger disaster.

It should be noted that many substances can be classed as dangerous goods, including a large number of beauty products. Any company which is unsure of whether they are compliant can contact companies like Impact Solutions to check. Impact will happily provide a free initial consultation and advise whether UN certification is required, and if so, help these companies arrange it.

For more information on our UN Packaging testing, please visit of UN Dangerous goods section or contact us today!

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