The Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations 2016

Made: 7th July 2016

Laid before Parliament: 11th July 2016

Coming into force: 1st October 2016

are expedient as set out in section 80(1) of the 1974 Act.

PART 1 — INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Citation and commencement

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These Regulations may be cited as the Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations 2016 and come into force on 1st October 2016.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 1987 Regulations” means the Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987[^f00004];

• “appropriate authority” means— in relation to a harbour which is, or forms part of, an ONR regulated site, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, otherwise, the Health and Safety Executive;

• “berth” means a dock, jetty, quay, wharf or similar structure (whether floating or not) or a buoy berth at which a vessel may tie up, and— includes any plant or premises, other than a vessel, used for purposes ancillary or incidental to the handling of dangerous goods within the harbour area; but does not include a monobuoy;

• “Class” has the same meaning as in the IMDG Code;

• “Compatibility Group” has the same meaning as in the IMDG Code;

• “dangerous goods” is defined in regulation 3;

• “Division” has the same meaning as in the IMDG Code;

• “dumb craft” means a vessel not possessing mechanical means of propulsion and includes a dumb barge and a dracone;

• “explosive” means goods of Class 1 in the IMDG Code ;

• “explosives licence” means a licence issued by the Health and Safety Executive or the Office for Nuclear Regulation under Part 5 of these Regulations;

• “freight container” means a container as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 1984[^f00005] other than a container within the definition of “portable tank” in those Regulations;

• “handling” in relation to dangerous goods includes loading, unloading and transferring the goods and cleaning, purging, gas-freeing and ballasting any tank on a vessel which contains dangerous goods or their vapour;

• “harbour area” means any harbour, natural or artificial, and any port, haven, estuary, tidal or other river or inland waterway navigated by seagoing vessels, including— all areas of water within the jurisdiction of a statutory harbour authority; any land, within the jurisdiction of or occupied by a statutory harbour authority, used in connection with the loading or unloading of a vessel; any berth where the handling of any dangerous goods takes place; any monobuoy connected to one or more storage facilities in a harbour area and its monobuoy area; any land adjacent to the harbour area used wholly or mainly for the normal activities of a harbour, but excluding areas of water which are in the jurisdiction of another statutory harbour authority where those areas of water are used primarily by vessels using berths or land within the harbour area of that other statutory authority;

• “harbour authority” means— a statutory harbour authority; or where there is no provision for a statutory harbour authority in respect of a harbour area, a person— who is, or claims to be, the proprietor of that harbour area, or who has the duty or power to improve, manage, maintain or regulate that harbour area;

• “harbour craft” means a self-propelled craft which is used wholly or mainly within a harbour area;

• “harbour master” means the harbour master, dock master or other officer appointed by the harbour authority, or any person having authority to act in such capacity;

• “headquarters” means those headquarters or organisations designated under the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964[^f00006];

• “IMDG Code” means the 2014 edition of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code as amended by Amendment no. 37-14 and as revised or reissued from time to time[^f00007];

• “loading” and “unloading” means the acts of loading and unloading a vessel and includes any acts of ullaging, sounding or sampling carried out in connection with those acts and the handling of dangerous goods ancillary to such acts;

• “master” includes any person, other than a marine pilot, having charge of a vessel:

• “monobuoy” means a mooring buoy at which dangerous goods may be loaded onto or unloaded from a vessel and which is connected to one or more storage facilities in a harbour area and includes any pipeline connecting to it;

• “monobuoy area” means the area of water surrounding a monobuoy where loading or unloading of dangerous goods takes place but does not extend to the area of water surrounding the pipeline or pipelines connected to it;

• “ONR regulated site” means a site which is— a GB nuclear site (within the meaning given in section 68 of the Energy Act 2013[^f00008]); an authorised defence site (within the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998[^f00009]); or a new nuclear build site (within the meaning given in regulation 2A of those Regulations);

• “operator” is defined in regulation 4;

• “portable tank” means a portable tank with a capacity of 450 litres or more, or a tank as defined in ADR 2015 (the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road) as revised or reissued from time to time[^f00010];

• “receptacle” includes any form of packaging used for the transport of dangerous goods, but does not include a freight container, a portable tank or a vehicle;

• “statutory harbour authority” has the same meaning as “harbour authority” has in the Harbours Act 1964[^f00011];

• “vessel” means any vessel, propelled or not, and includes a dumb craft, hovercraft, a hydrofoil vessel, anything constructed or adapted to carry persons or goods by water and a flying boat or seaplane on the water;

• “visiting forces” means visiting forces within the meaning of Part 1 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952[^f00012].

• (2) Any duty imposed upon a master of a vessel shall, in relation to a dumb craft, be imposed—

• (a) while the dumb craft is being towed, upon the master of the towing vessel;

• (b) at any other time, upon the operator of the dumb craft.

• (3) Any reference in these Regulations to the quantity of any explosive shall be construed as a reference to the net mass of explosive substance.

Meaning of “dangerous goods”

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“Dangerous goods” means goods or cargoes, whether packaged or in bulk, which meet the criteria in the IMDG Code for classification as dangerous goods.

Meaning of “operator”

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“Operator” means—

• (a) in relation to a road vehicle, a person who holds, or is required to hold by law, a licence for the use of that vehicle for the carriage of goods on a road; or, where no such licence is required, the keeper of the vehicle;

• (b) in relation to any other mode of transport or a berth, the person who has operational control of it for the time being.

Application

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• (1) These Regulations apply to—

• (a) every harbour area in Great Britain;

• (b) premises or activities in any part of a harbour area in the territorial sea adjacent to Great Britain to which sections 1 to 59 and 80 to 82 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply under Articles 6 (but only to the extent it relates to monobuoys) and 11 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013 but not, except as provided in regulation 14, elsewhere.

• (2) These Regulations apply to or in relation to dangerous goods except—

• (a) dangerous goods of Class 4.2 meeting the definition of dangerous goods solely by virtue of being at risk of oxidative self-heating when stored over a long period of time;

• (b) goods meeting the definition of dangerous goods solely by virtue of being marine pollutants;

• (c) dangerous goods carried under the limited quantity or excepted quantity provisions in the IMDG Code;

• (d) dangerous goods taken in sample form for testing by an enforcement officer;

• (e) dangerous goods being used solely in connection with the propulsion of a vessel or any other mode of transport and which are not loaded or carried as cargo;

• (f) dangerous goods, other than explosives, which are brought into a harbour area from inland and which are not loaded onto a vessel as cargo;

• (g) dangerous goods when carried—

• (i) by a vessel as part of the equipment or stores of that vessel;

• (ii) by a vehicle or in a freight container or by any other mode of transport as part of the equipment of that vehicle, vessel, freight container or any other mode of transport;

• (iii) for safety purposes;

• (iv) by a vessel as a result of the use of a fumigant;

• (h) dangerous goods, other than explosives, when carried by a harbour craft in the course of harbour engineering operations; and

• (i) any nuclear explosive device or any part of a nuclear explosive device.

• (3) These Regulations do not affect—

• (a) any action of Her Majesty’s Commissioners for Revenue and Customs or any requirement for the approval of, authority from, clearance by or notification to them or the necessity to comply with any order or conditions imposed by them;

• (b) any action taken by a person in relation to a direction given under Schedule 3A to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995[^f00014], or any action taken under paragraphs 1-4 of that Schedule.

PART 2 — ENTRY OF DANGEROUS GOODS INTO HARBOUR AREAS

Notice of entry of dangerous goods

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• (1) The master, agent or operator, as relevant, of any vessel or vehicle, or any other mode of transport, must before bringing any dangerous goods into the harbour area, give notice to—

• (a) the harbour master of the harbour area;

• (b) the berth operator where the goods are to be brought to a berth; and

• (c) where relevant, the harbour master of any abutting or overlapping harbour area.

• (2) The notice under paragraph (1) must be given not less than 24 hours and not more than 6 months before the dangerous goods are brought into the harbour area.

• (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)—

• (a) the harbour master may, if operational limitations make it necessary, direct that a period of more than 24 hours, but less than 14 days notice, be given;

• (b) the harbour master, and where relevant the berth operator, may agree to accept less than 24 hours notice where either it is not reasonably practicable to give 24 hours notice or neither health nor safety risks are increased by a shorter period;

• (c) the master of a vessel carrying dangerous goods which is under the control of the Secretary of State, or under the control of a visiting force or headquarters, must give notice to the harbour master before entry into the harbour area, and with respect to the carriage of explosives is required to confirm that—

• (i) the quantity of explosives is within the limit of any condition to which entry into or the carrying or handling within the harbour area of explosives will be subject; or

• (ii) the explosives are subject to a scheme authorised by the Secretary of State for safe storage, carriage and handling.

• (4) Notice under this regulation is to be given in writing or such form as the harbour master may agree and contain sufficient information to assist a proper evaluation of the risk created by the goods to the health and safety of any person.

• (5) Notice is not required under this regulation in respect of—

• (a) dangerous goods, except where the dangerous goods are explosives, carried by a vessel which is to pass through the harbour area without unloading in that area, an overlapping area or an abutting harbour area;

• (b) a radioactive substance that is exempt from the requirements of the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and the Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009[^f00015];

• (c) a ferry operated entirely within Category A-D waters within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping (Categorisation of Waters) Regulations 1992[^f00016];

• (d) dangerous substances in a pipeline;

• (e) dangerous goods carried by a foreign warship.

• (6) A harbour master may exempt any person from the requirements of this regulation where such an exemption is necessary for securing the health and safety of any person, and any such exemption may be granted subject to conditions and time limits and may be revoked at any time.

• (7) A harbour master granting or revoking an exemption under this regulation must keep a record of the exemption, including any conditions and time limits.

Harbour master’s powers

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• (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (6), in addition to any powers granted under byelaws made under regulation 25, a harbour master may give directions as set out in paragraph (4) to—

• (a) a person having control of dangerous goods;

• (b) a person having control of a freight container, receptacle or portable tank containing dangerous goods;

• (c) the operator of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods;

• (d) the master of a vessel carrying dangerous goods.

• (2) A harbour master may give directions to those persons in paragraph (1) if, taking into account all relevant circumstances, the condition of the dangerous goods, or their containers, or matters related to the dangerous goods create a risk to the health and safety of any person in, or in the vicinity of, the harbour area.

• (3) For the purpose of securing the safety of any person, where the harbour master has given directions under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State may give directions to require that harbour master to give such other directions under this regulation as may be specified by the Secretary of State.

• (4) Directions given under this regulation may—

• (a) regulate or prohibit entry into;

• (b) require the removal from;

• (c) regulate the handling, movement or position within,

the harbour area of the dangerous goods, freight container, receptacle, vehicle, vessel, portable tank or other mode of transport.

• (5) Where the harbour master intends to give a direction requiring the dangerous goods to be removed by land from the harbour area, the harbour master must consult any police force through whose area the dangerous goods are to be moved.

• (6) A person to whom directions are given under this regulation must comply with those directions.

• (7) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any vessel under the control of the Secretary of State or a visiting force or headquarters or to any dangerous goods, freight container, portable tank or receptacle carried by such vessel.

• (8) A harbour master is not under any duty to examine the condition of any dangerous goods, freight container, portable tank, receptacle, vehicle or vessel as a result of this regulation.

PART 3 — Marking of Vessels

Flags and lights to be displayed by vessels

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• (1) Where a vessel is carrying any of the dangerous goods specified in Schedule 1, the master of that vessel shall ensure that it displays—

• (a) in the case of a vessel with a mast—

• (i) during the day, a flag complying with the requirements of Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 2, and

• (ii) at times of restricted visibility or during the night, an all-round red light giving a clear, uniform and unbroken light visible in good night time conditions for a distance of at least 2 nautical miles;

• (b) in the case of a vessel without a mast—

• (i) during the day, a flag complying with the requirements of Parts 1 and 3 of Schedule 2, and

• (ii) when moored or anchored during the night and during the day in restricted visibility, an all-round red light.

• (2) Any flag or light required by paragraph (1) to be displayed shall be positioned so as to be as conspicuous as is reasonably practicable, and in the case of a light, so that it is above any other light being displayed by the vessel.

• (3) Any dumb craft must have either its towing craft or, when moored, its accompanying craft display the appropriate flag or light as detailed in the paragraphs above.

• (4) This regulation does not apply to a ferry operated entirely within Category A-D waters within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping (Categorisation of Waters) Regulations 1992.

Vessels to keep a safe distance from moored or anchored vessels displaying the flag or light required by regulation 8

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• (1) A master shall not bring a vessel alongside a moored or anchored vessel which is displaying a flag or signal required by regulation 8 without—

• (a) the permission of the berth operator and the master of the vessel if it is at berth;

• (b) the permission of the harbour master and the master of the vessel if it is elsewhere,

and must otherwise keep a safe distance from that vessel.

• (2) The permission in paragraph (1) may relate to a named vessel, to a class of vessels or to vessels generally.

PART 4 — Emergency Arrangements and Untoward Incidents

Preparation of emergency plans by harbour authorities

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• (1) A harbour authority must have in place an effective emergency plan, before dangerous goods are permitted into the harbour area, for dealing with emergencies which may arise and which involve, affect or could affect dangerous goods that are brought into or are handled in the harbour area.

• (2) In preparing the emergency plan the harbour authority must consult—

• (a) the emergency services; and

• (b) any other bodies which appear to it to be appropriate.

• (3) Where the harbour authority’s harbour area abuts the harbour area of another harbour authority the emergency plan must in addition be agreed by both harbour authorities.

• (4) The harbour authority must review the emergency plan periodically, having consulted with the parties listed in paragraph (2), and where relevant paragraph (3).

Emergency arrangements at berths

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When dangerous goods are being handled or carried at a berth, and at any other time when there are risks from dangerous goods, the berth operator must, in a timely manner, inform the master of any vessel entering a berth of the means of emergency communication and escape.

Untoward incidents

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