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Guidance note 24/201/REV: Carriage by road of wastes and contaminants from category A pathogens – for health professionals

Published 8 January 2015

© Crown copyright 2015

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carriage-of-dangerous-goods-guidance-note-24/guidance-note-24201rev-carriage-by-road-of-rastes-and-contaminants-from-category-a-pathogens-for-health-professionals

Introduction

This guidance note is applicable in Great Britain only, but the recommendations are nevertheless relevant in Northern Ireland where the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) may issue supplementary guidance. Formal authorisations for transport within Northern Ireland must be obtained from the HSENI.

This guidance is orientated towards pathogens that are category A even in non-cultured form.

Category A pathogens

Category A pathogens are those capable of causing permanent disability, life-threatening or fatal disease. In the event of a patient that, on the basis of professional medical judgement, presents symptoms of or is diagnosed with disease caused by a category A pathogen, there are two scenarios likely to arise that may result in the need to transport infectious materials:

  1. Specimens taken for the purpose of establishing or confirming diagnosis.
  2. Wastes arising from the admittance and/or care of the patient: for example, clothes, dressings and soiled bedding.

Materials transported either once a positive diagnosis has been made or (in exceptional cases) while awaiting one, should be classified as category A.

Materials transported once the diagnosis has proved negative should be treated as non-infectious or Category B, as appropriate. For this reason, we advise that wastes should not be moved until a diagnosis has been made[footnote 1].

Specimens

Specimens must be transported in appropriate category A packagings. These can be identified by the appearance of “CLASS 6.2” in the packaging approval code[footnote 2].

A list of providers of UK-approved category A packagings can be found at the end of this note[footnote 3].

Wastes

Wastes may present a problem in disposal, as commercially available category A packagings of suitable size are very difficult to find. Where category A cannot be accommodated in available packagings, an authorisation must be sought from the Department for Transport to move the waste by alternative means. Initial contact to arrange this should be made to the following:

Office hours:

Vehicle Certification Agency 01372 226110 or dgenquiries@vca.gov.uk or DfT Dangerous Goods Division 020 7944 6436 or david.hammond@dft.gsi.gov.uk.

Emails will be acknowledged, but please try to speak to someone so that we can be sure that your request has been received and is being acted upon.

Out of hours

DfT Duty Office 020 7944 5999. Your details will be taken and passed to the Dangerous Goods Division as soon as possible.

Alongside this document is an application for Authorisation form for details of the proposed transport operation for moving wastes. You should fill it in and submit it as soon as possible once you have made contact as above.

“Management of Hazard Group 4 viral haemorrhagic fevers and similar human infectious diseases of high consequence”, Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens

“Safe Management of Healthcare Waste”, NHS England

“DfT dangerous goods guidance note 17: transport of infectious substances”, Department for Transport

Footnotes

  1. This should be understood in conjunction with the recommendation that Category A wastes should not be accumulated for more than 24 hours (“Safe Management of Healthcare Waste”, NHS England). Wastes should not be treated as more dangerous than they actually are if it is reasonable to establish their relative lack of hazard (ie category B or non-infectious) before movement. ↩

  2. This is the code marked on the packaging prefixed with ‘UN’ (eg UN 4G/CLASS 6.2/14/NL/123456). ↩

  3. 3 Air Sea Containers Ltd: 0151 653 1500; DGP Intelsius Ltd: 01904 607390; Dangerous Goods International (UK) Ltd: 020 8814 0404; Inmark Europe Ltd: 020 8564 3599. Further details of the packagings provided by these companies can be found at the Vehicle Certification Agency’s Dangerous Goods Database ‘Boxes’ file. This list does not imply endorsement of these particular products. Class A packagings approved by any Competent Authority can be used, not just those of the UK. ↩

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