Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (Driver Training) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Vocational training certificates

4.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (9) and regulation 5, the operator of any vehicle which is engaged in the carriage of dangerous goods shall ensure that the driver of that vehicle holds a valid certificate applicable to that carriage (to be known as a “vocational training certificate”) issued by the Secretary of State.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), in the case of any carriage referred to—

(a) in regulation 2(1)(a)(i), 2(1)(b)(i) or 2(1)(b)(ii), the vocational training certificate shall be appropriate to the carriage of dangerous goods in road tankers or tank containers; and

(b) in regulation 2(1)(a)(ii), or 2(1)(b)(iii), the vocational training certificate shall be appropriate to the carriage of dangerous goods in packages, and in this sub-paragraph “packages” shall be construed in accordance with “package” as defined in regulation 2(1) of the CDGCPL Regulations.

(3) A driver may only be issued with a vocational training certificate in accordance with paragraph (1) where—

(a) he has successfully completed such training in the carriage of the dangerous goods concerned as the Secretary of State has from time to time approved;

(b) he has passed an examination (the syllabus of which shall cover the training referred to in sub-paragraph (a)) which has been approved by the Secretary of State; and

(c) a fee of £2·80 has been paid to the Secretary of State.

(4) Each vocational training certificate issued in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be in a form approved by the Secretary of State.

(5) The training referred to in paragraph (3)(a) shall be given in the form of a theoretical course accompanied by practical exercises and shall cover at least the subjects specified in Schedule 3.

(6) Each vocational training certificate issued in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be valid for a period of 5 years from the date of issue, but its validity may be extended for periods of up to 5 years by the Secretary of State where the holder can show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that he has, within the period of 12 months which precede the expiry of the original certificate or any extension of it granted in accordance with this paragraph—

(a) successfully completed a refresher course in the carriage of dangerous goods which has been approved by the Secretary of State;

(b) passed the examination referred to in paragraph (3)(b); and

(c) paid a fee of £2·80 to the Secretary of State.

(7) Schedule 4 shall have effect with respect to fees for applications for such approvals under this regulation as are specified in paragraph 1 of that Schedule.

(8) Any current certificate in the form set out in Appendix B.6 to ADR (regardless of whether or not that certificate has been extended in the manner described by Article 5.2 of the Council Directive or marginal 10315(3) of ADR) which is held by a driver and which was issued to him under national provisions giving effect to Article 1 of the Council Directive or the ADR Directive in a member State or in Great Britain shall be deemed to be a vocational training certificate issued in conformity with the foregoing provisions of this regulation and be valid for the carriage of those dangerous goods to which it is applicable.

(9) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the driver shall not be required to hold a vocational training certificate solely by virtue of the fact that the dangerous goods being carried are radioactive material where—

(a) the said material is of a type specified in Schedule 9 of marginal 2704 of ADR and is contained in packages;

(b) the total number of such packages on the vehicle is not more than 10 and the sum of the Transport Indexes for the packages is not more than 3; and

(c) the driver holds a certificate provided by his employer (or, in the case of self-employment, by himself) confirming that he has received the instruction and training specified in regulation 3(1)(a) and (c).