The Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Road Tankers and Tank Containers) Regulations 1992

Removal of hazard warning panels and labels

23.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), where one or more dangerous substances have been carried in a road tanker or tank container and the carrying tank of that road tanker or that tank container and (where the carrying tank of the road tanker or the tank container concerned is divided into compartments) all the compartments thereof have been emptied and cleaned or purged so that any of a dangerous substance or its vapour which remains is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person, the operator and driver of the relevant road tanker or other vehicle carrying the relevant tank container shall ensure that the hazard warning panels and labels referring to any dangerous substance which has been removed as aforesaid and which were required to be displayed on that road tanker or tank container by these Regulations are—

(a) completely covered or completely removed;

(b) partly covered or partly removed so as to leave visible only the telephone number or the text permitted by paragraphs 3(d), 4(d) or 5(1)(d) of Schedule 3; or

(c) placed in a securely closed container clearly marked to show that the panels or labels relate to no other substance then being carried.

(2) Where a multi-load has been carried in separate uncompartmented carrying tanks of a road tanker, in separate compartments of a compartmented carrying tank of a road tanker or in separate compartments of a compartmented tank container and (in the case of a road tanker) each uncompartmented carrying tank or compartment of a compartmented carrying tank and (in the case of a compartmented tank container) each compartment thereof which was carrying one of the dangerous substances concerned has been emptied and cleaned or purged so that any of that dangerous substance or its vapour which remains is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person, the operator and driver of the relevant road tanker or other vehicle carrying the relevant tank container shall ensure that—

(a) the labels referring to the dangerous substance which has been removed as aforesaid and which were required to be displayed on the road tanker or tank container concerned by these Regulations are completely covered, completely removed or placed in a securely closed container clearly marked to show that the labels relate to no other substance then being carried; and

(b) the hazard warning panels and labels required to be displayed on the road tanker or tank container concerned by these Regulations are changed to those appropriate to the remaining load.

(3) Regulation 22 and paragraph (1) shall not apply in respect of a road tanker where—

(a) the hazard warning panels displayed thereon show one of the following substance identification numbers, namely—

(i) 1270,

(ii) 1203, or

(iii) 1223; and

(b) the road tanker concerned is not for the time being being used for the carriage of any dangerous substance to which any of those substance identification numbers relates, but is for the time being being used for the carriage of gas oil or diesel oil, or both.

(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the carriage of any dangerous substance whose classification is “other dangerous substance” (which substance, although normally carried at a temperature in excess of 100°C, has reduced its temperature during that carriage to below that figure) or to any tank which, although normally used for the carriage at a temperature in excess of 100°C of any dangerous substance whose classification is “other dangerous substance”, is nominally empty within the meaning of regulation 17(2).