Transport Canada has posted a bulletin for shipping infectious substances (RDIMS#8210418).
In the overview, Transport Canada reviews what an infectious substance is: anything that is known or reasonably believed to cause disease in humans or animals. This substance can be in blood, body fluids, body parts, organs, tissue or cultures. The responsibility of the consignor is to: train, classify, package, mark/label, document, placard and have an ERAP in place, if necessary. In addition to the definition found in section 1.4 of TDG (Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has regulations that apply to lab safety and the import of human pathogens into Canada. Please keep in mind that provincial governments may have additional regulations in place.
Classification of infectious substances is generally done by a medical professional. If you know that what you want to ship is an infectious substance, then it is class 6.2. In TDG, under Appendix 3 in Part 2 is a listing of regulated infectious substances. This list is not exhaustive. If what you want to ship is not on the list, but exhibits the characteristics of an infectious substance, then it is class 6.2.
The authorized shipping names in TDG are:
Category A
UN2814 Infectious substance, affecting humans,
UN2900 Infectious substance, affecting animals
Category B
UN3373 Biological substance, Category B
UN3291 Clinical waste, unspecified, n.o.s., (Bio)Medical waste, n.o.s., or Regulated medical waste, n.o.s. are not listed in TDG. These shipping names can be used utilizing section 1.10 of TDG. It is recommended to use Type 1C packaging.
When shipping infectious substances, you must do so in compliance with TDG. When shipping by air, you must use the ICAO Technical Instructions and by sea, the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG). Please note that competent authority approval may be needed.
There are exemptions available for shipping within Canada:
section 1.39 – Class 6.2, Infectious Substances, Category B Exemption
section 1.41 – Biological Products Exemption
section 1.42 – Human or animal Substance Believed not to Contain Infectious Substances Exemption
section 1.42.1 – Tissues or Organs for Transplant Exemption
section 1.42.2 – Blood or Blood Components Exemption
Quick reference guide for road transport
Item
Category A
Category B
Waste
Classification
UN2814
Infectious Substance, Affecting Humans
UN2900
Infectious Substance, Affecting Animals
UN3373
Biological Substance, Category B
UN2814 or UN2900 if waste contains Category A.
UN3291 if waste contains Category B.
Packaging selection
Type 1A
Type 1B (only in certain instances. Refer to TDG 5.16)
Type 1A, or
Type 1B
Type 1A,
Type 1B, or
Type 1C
Documentation
Yes
No, if shipped in accordance with the exemption in TDG 1.39
by Suzanne Levac on June 4, 2013 at 8:37 am · in Suzanne's Blog
Qatar has withdrawn its bid to take the headquarters of a major UN agency away from Montreal.
The small, oil-rich Gulf nation made a surprise bid in late April to move the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which sets international rules for airplane transportation – sending the Canadian government into what Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called a “tooth and nail” fight to keep it.
Qatar withdrew its offer to move the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization Friday.
ICAO confirmed that the tiny kingdom cancelled its campaign to move the United Nations agency’s headquarters to Doha from Montreal, where the body has been located since its inception. ICAO was created at the Chicago Convention in December 1944 and started its work in 1946 in Montreal, the organization’s permanent seat.
Qatar stunned Ottawa and even ICAO delegates last month when it tabled its offer to move the Montreal head office, where 534 employees work. The natural-gas rich emirate had offered to pay all expenses and to build a lavish new building at its own expense.
The governments of Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal and aviation players blasted the move as an attempt to buy an international deliberative body.
“In accordance with the recent addendum issued by ICAO to the 2013 – 2014 edition of the Technical Instructions to amend the provision for lithium batteries associated with electronic devices to also make reference that this includes medical devices containing lithium batteries so that more than two spare lithium batteries of not more than 100 Wh may be carried by passengers with such medical devices, attached is an equivalent addendum to the 54th edition of the DGR.
In addition to the changes related to special provision A51, there are also a number of revisions to State and operator variations that have been advised and that are now effective.”
Just like the rest of society, the transportation industry is not immune to scammers trying to help themselves to some unearned cash. And in the days of e-commerce, it’s getting even easier.
Recently, our attention was brought to some scammers fraudulently representing themselves as the International Air Transport Association (IATA). These fraudsters have concocted an e-mail scolding the recipients for not paying for their “Annual Review of Codes,” and threatening that if the deadline for payment is missed, recipients will lose their “assigned IATA airline codes.” They then instruct recipients to obtain a repeat copy of the invoice (which, of course, the targets never received in the first place) from an e-mail address that looks similar, but not quite identical, to the official IATA one.
Of course, if you do not actually run an airline, you may quickly recognize that something is wrong. But the scammers obviously hope that such official-looking invoices may fool some recipients into paying first, and asking questions afterwards.
Here’s what the current scam text looks like. Note, of course, that scammers will frequently change the wording slightly to avoid being pegged as spam.
“Dear IATA Code Holder,
Your company have exceeded the deadline for the Annual Review of Codes. As of this time we still have not received payment for your 2013 Annual Review fees. Please be advised that failure to pay the invoice for your 2013 Annual Review fees which has already exceeded the deadline date will result in the recall of your assigned IATA airline codes.
Should you require an electronic copy of this invoice please advise, and one will be sent to you by e-mail.
If you have made payment already, please provide the full banking details so that we may follow this up with our finance department and locate the payment. Please note any payment recently made, may not have had a chance to be reflected in our accounts.
Please be sure to quote your airline name, and assigned codes. This way it will be clear to us which airline we are dealing with when we receive your e-mail.
Thank You and Best Regards,
(redacted signature)
MITA/CODING Tel + 514 874 020 Fax + 514 390 677 Accounts@iatapayment.org International Air Transport Association 800, Place Victoria, P.O. Box 113 Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4Z 1M1″
Here are some of the tipoffs of a scam in this e-mail:
The e-mail is not addressed to a specific individual, department or even a company, despite its attempt to pass itself off as a response to a specific transaction.
The e-mail requests that the recipients identify themselves in the return e-mail, along with “full banking details”. No invoice number is provided; instead, the target is told to ask for another copy.
Minor grammatical errors, such as “your company have”, and unorthodox capitalization of words are a common sign of a scam.
Both the telephone number and fax number are missing their last digit. This reduces the likelihood that the recipient will try to obtain clarification from the real IATA by telephone – this would give the scam away immediately!
Most telling of all is the e-mail address and signature. In the e-mail that came to our attention, the name of a real IATA employee was used. However, the e-mail address and digital signature are not those of IATA.
All official IATA e-mails use the “@iata.org” domain.
Every outgoing e-mail from “@iata.org” has a digital signature with a certificate issued by GlobalSign, a trusted digital certificate authority. This digital signature allows you to verify the authenticity of the e-mail and that it is from IATA.
An authentic IATA invoice or an IATA payment reminder will never request settlement payment into a non-IATA bank account.
IATA will never ask you to respond to an email address other than “@iata.org”.
The huge electrical loads that power operating equipment are not the only electrical hazards in the workplace. The little electrical issues, such as appliances being left on, overloaded outlets and daisy-chained extension cords, can also have big destructive power, but are often overlooked.
Turn it off
Have you ever walked into the control room in the morning and found the coffeepot still on from the night before? The smell of burnt coffee and melted heating elements fills the air. That was a near miss. There could have been a fire. Many commonplace, small electrical items pose big hazards. For example, a space heater could ignite combustible materials. Computers, portable refrigerators, PDAs, cell phones, circular fans, air filters, crockpots and radios stay on all night. Microwave ovens are huge power hogs that often cause a circuit breaker to pop. These items should be properly turned off and unplugged when they’re not being used.
Extend safely
Extension cords should be used only as temporary wiring. Snaking around doorways, rolled over by chairs, extension cords are unseen, abused and misshapen and prone to overheating and overloading. If an extension cord is used frequently for a particular appliance, consider having another outlet installed.
When using an extension cord, make sure it is rated for the product being connected. Also, be sure to unplug and put away an extension cord when you’re finished with it. Never keep an extension cord plugged in when it isn’t being used; it’s still conducting electricity until it’s unplugged.
Plug wisely
Use correctly wired three-prong grounded electrical outlets. Many workers don’t realize how important grounding is to preventing electrocutions. Use only Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) listed products, and don’t overload the electrical circuits. Daisy-chaining extension cords often overloads circuits. Never plug in electrical products that, combined, draw more than 1,500 watts from the same circuit.
Inspect all electrical hazards
When conducting a site audit, make sure all appliances and personal electrical items are included. Check that every item is in good working order and remove those that do not appear to be in working order. Remove any antique fans that have an open grill and frayed fabric cord, as well as those old or homemade electrical items that look like accidents waiting to happen.
It doesn’t matter if an item being powered is big or small; electricity always demands your respect and attention.
