Poisons Act
(Chapter 234, Section 21)
Poisons (Hazardous Substances) Rules
R 2
G.N. No. S 322/1986

REVISED EDITION 1990
(25th March 1992)
[27th March 1987]
Citation
1.  These Rules may be cited as the Poisons (Hazardous Substances) Rules.
Definitions
2.—(1)  In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —
“carrier” means any person undertaking the transport of hazardous substances and includes both carriers for hire or reward and carriers on own account;
“code of practice” means a standard which —
(a)sets out the method of installation of equipment and the procedure to be followed for the efficient use and maintenance of such equipment;
(b)recommends precautions to be taken in making, using and maintaining such equipment; or
(c)specifies the measures or precautions to be taken in designing, planning and constructing such equipment in order to ensure that the requirements laid down in respect of the design, plan and construction of such equipment are complied with;
“consignment” means any load or multi-load of hazardous substances presented by a consignor for transport;
“consignor” means any person who presents a consignment of hazardous substances for transport or on whose behalf such consignment is presented;
“container” means —
(a)any vessel, can, drum, barrel or other receptacle; or
(b)where such vessel, can, drum, barrel or other receptacle is contained in another container or is wholly enveloped in a covering or coverings of whatever nature, the outermost container or covering, as the case may be,
but does not include the carrying tank of a road tanker, a tank container or a freight container;
“emergency action plan” means such plan of action to be taken in the event of any emergency situation involving any hazardous substance as approved by the licensing officer;
“freight container” means an article of transport equipment designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport without intermediate re-loading of the contents;
“hazardous substance” means any of the poisons specified in the First Schedule but shall not include such substance when contained in any medical prescription, pharmaceutical preparation, cosmetic or animal feedstuff;
“import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, sea or air;
“licensee” means any person licensed under the Act or under these Rules to deal with poisons which are hazardous substances;
“multi-load” means a load consisting of two or more hazardous substances in separate compartments or containers (whether or not a substance which is not a hazardous substance is being conveyed at the same time);
“owner”, in relation to any hazardous substance, includes any person acting as agent for the owner;
“road” has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Act [Cap. 276];
“road tanker” means a goods vehicle as defined in the Road Traffic Act [Cap. 276] which has a tank that is structurally attached to, or is an integral part of, the frame of the vehicle;
“tank” means a container having a total internal capacity exceeding 250 litres for liquids and 500 litres for gases;
“tank container” means a tank with a total liquid capacity of 450 litres or more which is —
(a)used for the conveyance of a liquid, gaseous, powdery or granular substance; and
(b)constructed for repeated use and to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport without need of removal of its structural equipment or intermediate re-loading of its contents;
“transport” means transport by road and includes any operation incidental to the whole course of carriage, such as loading, unloading and storage in transit;
“vehicle” means any mechanically propelled vehicle or otherwise intended or adapted for use on roads and includes a road tanker and a trailer which does not form part of the vehicle.
(2)  For the purposes of these Rules, a combination of a vehicle and one or more trailers shall be treated as one vehicle for so long as they remain attached.
(3)  A vehicle shall be deemed for the purposes of these Rules to be used for the transport of a hazardous substance throughout the period —
(a)in the case of a road tanker, from the commencement of loading for the purpose of conveying the substance on a road until the tank or compartment of the tank has been cleaned or purged so that any of the substances or its vapour which remains in it is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person; or
(b)in the case of a vehicle carrying a tank container from —
(i)the time at which the tank container containing the hazardous substance is placed on the vehicle; or
(ii)if the tank container was placed on the vehicle before loading was commenced, from the commencement of loading,
for the purpose of conveying the substance on a road until —
(A)the tank container is removed from the vehicle; or
(B)the tank container or compartment of the tank container has been cleaned or purged so that any of the substances or its vapour which remains in it is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person,
and in either case, whether or not the vehicle is on a road at the material time.
PART II
TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Application
3.  This Part shall apply to the transport or consigning for transport of any hazardous substance in an amount exceeding the quantities specified in the First Schedule.
Consignor’s responsibility for safe consignment
4.  A person shall not consign for transport any hazardous substance unless —
(a)he has obtained the approval in writing of the licensing officer in regard to the proposed transport of such substance; and
(b)the container, tank container, freight container or road tanker to be used for the transport of the hazardous substance is designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with a code of practice approved by the licensing officer.
Carrier to obtain information on consignment
5.—(1)  No carrier shall transport any hazardous substance unless he has been given a statement prescribed by rule 6(1) as will enable him to comply with the requirements of these Rules and to be aware of the risks created by the substance to the health or safety of any person.
(2)  The statement shall be supplied by the consignor or owner of the consignment of the hazardous substance to the carrier at the latest when the transport order is given, so as to enable the carrier to take all necessary steps to ensure that the driver of the vehicle used to transport the hazardous substance is aware of the instructions in the statement and is capable of carrying them out effectively.
(3)  It shall be the duty of any person who supplies any statement relating to a hazardous substance to a carrier for the purposes of paragraph (1) to ensure that the information contained therein is accurate and sufficient for the purposes of that paragraph.
Transport documents
6.—(1)  The consignor or owner of a consignment of hazardous substance shall provide in the transport documents relating to the substance a statement regarding the safety requirements and the actions that must be taken by the carrier which shall include the following instructions:
(a)supplementary operational requirements for loading, transport, storage, unloading, handling and stowage or a statement that no supplementary operational requirements are necessary;
(b)restrictions, if any, on the mode of transport and any necessary routing instructions;
(c)emergency action plans; and
(d)an indication of the general nature of risk and safety precautions when handling the hazardous substance.
(2)  The consignor or owner of a consignment of hazardous substance shall include in the transport documents for the consignment of the hazardous substance —
(a)the designation and quantity of the hazardous substance;
(b)the approval of the licensing officer in regard to the transport of the substance;
(c)an acknowledgment of receipt to be signed by the consignee or his assigns; and
(d)a declaration that the contents of the consignment are properly described by name and are properly packaged, marked and labelled and are in a proper condition for transport.
(3)  The declaration made under paragraph (2)(d) shall contain the original or stamped facsimile signature of the consignor or owner of the consignment of the hazardous substance, as the case may be, together with the date and shall be substantially in such form as may be prescribed by the licensing officer.
Instructions for drivers
7.  The carrier shall, before a hazardous substance is transported, give the driver of the vehicle used to transport the substance a copy of the statement referred to in rule 5(1) relating to the substance being transported and ensure that the driver is adequately trained to carry out the instructions contained in the statement.
Driver’s responsibility
8.  The driver of a vehicle used to transport any hazardous substance shall —
(a)keep in the cab of the vehicle a copy of the statement given to him under rule 7 where the information will be available at all times while the substance to which it relates is being transported; and
(b)comply with all instructions contained in the copy of the statement given to him under rule 7.
Transport routes
9.  The carrier shall not transport any hazardous substance except at the times and along the routes as prescribed by the licensing officer.
Hazard warning panels and labels
10.—(1)  Where a hazardous substance is being transported in a road tanker, a freight container or a tank container or other vehicle, the carrier shall ensure that the appropriate hazard warning panel or label as prescribed in the code of labelling specified by the licensing officer is displayed on the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle and the panel or label shall —
(a)be weather resistant and be indelibly marked;
(b)be either rigid or fixed to be rigid;
(c)be marked on or securely attached to the vehicle, freight container or tank container in a substantially vertical plane, and if the means of attachment is by a frame, that frame shall carry no other hazard warning panels; and
(d)be kept clean and free from obstruction, except that a rear panel or label may be mounted behind a ladder of light construction which does not prevent the information on the panel or label from being easily read.
(2)  Where a multi-load is transported, if in a road tanker, in separate tanks or in compartments of a tank, or in a compartmented tank container, the carrier shall ensure that each such tank or compartment which contains a hazardous substance is provided with and displays the appropriate hazard warning panel or label prescribed in the code of labelling specified by the licensing officer and the requirements of paragraph (1) shall apply to such panels or labels.
(3)  The carrier shall ensure that the hazard warning panel or label is —
(a)displayed on the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle at all times when a hazardous substance is being transported; and
(b)removed when the road tanker, freight container, tank container or vehicle is not used for transporting any hazardous substance.
Precaution against fire or explosion
11.—(1)  Every person engaged in the transport of a hazardous substance shall —
(a)ensure as far as is reasonably possible that none of the substances is spilt or released; and
(b)observe all precautions necessary for preventing fire or an explosion.
(2)  A suitable and efficient fire extinguisher shall be carried in an easily accessible position on every vehicle transporting any hazardous substance.
Prohibition against overfill
12.  The consignor or owner of a consignment of a hazardous substance shall ensure that any carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or container in which the hazardous substance is transported is not overfilled at the time of consigning for transport.
Prohibition against carriage of multi-loads of hazardous substances
13.  No person shall transport a multi-load of hazardous substances except in accordance with a code approved by the licensing officer.
Supervision of vehicles carrying hazardous substances
14.—(1)  The driver of a vehicle used to transport any hazardous substance shall ensure that the vehicle, when not driven, is —
(a)parked in a safe place; or
(b)supervised at all times by him or by some other competent person above the age of 21 years.
(2)  Paragraph (1) shall not apply where any carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or compartment thereof which had contained a hazardous substance is nominally empty.
(3)  In paragraph (2), “nominally empty”, in relation to a carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or compartment thereof, means that as much of the hazardous substance as is reasonably practicable has been discharged or unloaded from it and that such substance remaining within the carrying tank, tank container or compartment thereof is not sufficient to create a risk to the health and safety of any person.