Guidance

Report a dangerous goods incident: rail

Form for freight companies transporting dangerous goods by rail to report an incident.

Companies transporting dangerous goods by rail must report any incidents or accidents that happen during:

  • filling
  • loading
  • carriage
  • unloading

Information you will need to report

To report an incident you will need to tell us about:

  • the location, date and time that the incident happened
  • the dangerous goods that were involved
  • what happened before, during and after the incident
  • the address of the consignor of the dangerous goods
  • any damage or injuries caused

Report a dangerous goods rail incident

What is a serious incident?

You can use this form to report any incidents or near misses involving the carriage of dangerous goods.

It is a legal requirement to report an incident if it is a ‘serious’ incident.

An incident is classed as ‘serious’ if any of the following result from it.

Injury or death

If someone dies as a result of the incident or they:

  • are unable to work for at least 3 consecutive days
  • have to stay in hospital for 1 day or more
  • require intensive medical treatment

Material or environmental damage more than £50,000

Where the estimated amount of damage is more than £50,000. This does not include the cost of damage to the vehicle or the transport infrastructure, for example, the road surface.

Authorities involved

An incident is classed as serious if both of the following apply:

  • the authorities or emergency services are involved
  • people have to be evacuated or public traffic routes (roads/railways) have to be closed for at least 3 hours

Loss of product, or immediate risk of loss

You must report any incident involving infectious substances (class 6.2) or radioactive material (class 7). For other goods, the legal requirement to report depends on:

  • the amount of dangerous goods involved
  • the transport category that the goods are in

Table showing the amount of dangerous goods required for each transport category

Transport category Amount of dangerous goods involved
Category 0 or 1 50 kilograms or 50 litres or more
Category 2 333 kilograms or 333 litres or more
Category 3 or 4 1,000 kilograms or 1,000 litres or more

See this table of transport categories for dangerous goods on the HSE website.

Report a road, air or maritime incident

There are separate forms to report a:

Updates to this page

Published 11 July 2024

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