Transit depots include ports, airports, freight forwarders' yards and rail depots. They can hold and handle large quantities of a wide range of substances and careful management is needed.
Substances that are in transit and are awaiting delivery to their final destination can be held in transit depots for up to three days, provided that they are in closed containers and all containers stay shut. The substances cannot be sold or stored for supply.
Your responsibilities
What you need to do to comply with the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017 will depend on the hazardous substances you hold at your transit depot.
Hazardous substances in transit depots
This guidance gives advice on how to safely manage the risks of holding hazardous substances in transit depots.
While this guidance has not been updated to reflect current work health and safety legislation (the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and regulations), it may still contain relevant information and practices to keep workers and others healthy and safe.
Please read this guidance in conjunction with all relevant industry standards that apply to you as a PCBU. This guidance will be progressively reviewed and either updated, replaced with other guidance, or revoked.
Compliance certification requirements
Depending on the type and quantity of chemicals held at your site, you may require one or more of the following compliance certificates:
- location compliance certificate
- certified handler compliance certificate
- stationary container compliance certificate
If you are unsure about your compliance certification requirements, contact a compliance certifier for advice.
Find a compliance certifier(external link)
As a general rule, you should keep the quantities of hazardous substances stored on your site to a minimum. In this way the risks may be reduced and the need for compliance certification reduced.
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