Title
PART 18 - SAFE TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS BY AIR
- Regulation Number : 77
- Year : 2018
- Date of Gazette : 26/11/2018
- Classification : Statutes / Acts
Introduction
Part 18 specifies the broad requirements to be followed to enable dangerous goods to be
carried safely. It makes references to the provisions of the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods
by Air referred to in ICAO Doc. 9284 necessary for the correct handling of dangerous
cargo. These require frequent updating as developments occur in the chemical,
manufacturing and packaging industries, and a special procedure has been established
by the Council to allow the Technical Instructions to be revised and reissued regularly to
keep up with new products and advances in technology.
More than half of the cargo carried by all modes of transport in the world is dangerous
cargo – explosive, corrosive, flammable, toxic and even radioactive. These dangerous
goods are essential for a wide variety of global industrial, commercial, medical and
research requirements and processes. Because of the advantages of air transport, a great
deal of this dangerous cargo is carried by aircraft.
The Authority recognizes the importance of this type of cargo and has taken steps to
ensure that such cargo can be carried safely. This has been done by adopting ICAO Annex
18, together with the associated document Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport
of Dangerous Goods by Air.
There are nine hazard classes which have been determined by the United Nations
Committee of Experts and are used for all modes of transport. Class 1 includes explosives
of all kinds, such as sporting ammunition, fireworks and signal flares. Class 2 comprises
compressed or liquefied gases which may also be toxic or flammable; examples are
cylinders of oxygen and refrigerated liquid nitrogen. Class 3 substances are flammable
liquids including gasoline, lacquers, paint thinners, etc. Class 4 covers flammable solids,
spontaneously combustible materials and materials which, when in contact with water,
exit flammable gases (examples are some powdered metals, cellulose type film and
charcoal). Class 5 covers oxidizing material, including bromates, chlorates or nitrates;
this class also covers organic peroxides which are both oxygen carriers and very
combustible. Poisonous or toxic substances, such as pesticides, mercury compounds,
etc., comprise Class 6, together with infectious substances which must sometimes be
shipped for diagnostic or preventative purposes. Class 7 comprises radioactive materials
which are mainly radioactive isotopes needed for medical or research purposes but are
sometimes contained in manufactured articles such as heart pacemakers or smoke
detectors and are regulated in Ghana by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. Corrosive
substances which may be dangerous to human tissue or which pose a hazard to the
structure of an aircraft are dealt with in Class 8 (for example, caustic soda, battery fluid,
paint remover). Finally, Class 9 is a miscellaneous category for other materials which are
potentially hazardous in air transport, such as magnetized materials which could affect
the aircraft’s navigational systems.
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