Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited

All those who are involved with the transportation and handling of hazardous products are expected to be aware of all the applicable statutory requirements.
As far as HOCL products are concerned, the following statutes are important.

Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1993

This covers various requirements to be adhered to in the transportation of hazardous goods.
Rule 9 stipulates that the driver of vehicle carrying hazardous goods must have undergone training of specified duration from an approved institution as per syllabus prescribed in the rules. Driver must have endorsement by the licensing authority in their driving license that he is authorized to drive a goods carriage carrying goods of hazardous nature to human life.
Rule 129 stipulates certain requirements to be followed by the owner of the transport vechicle like display of applicable hazard class labels in the transport vehicle, providing necessary safety equipment. Spark arrester shall be provided at the vehicle exhaust pipe.
Rule 130 stipulates the manner in which class labels are to be displayed.
Rule 132 stipulates the responsibilities of the transporter to ensure valid vehicle registration to carry the goods, ensure that the vehicle is fit for carrying the goods, equipping vehicle with first aid box, safety equipment, toolbox, antidotes to contain any accident. Transporter shall ensure before transportation that he has obtained full information from the consignor and provided sufficient information to the driver.

Rule 133 stipulates the responsibility of the driver to ensure that the TREMCARD provided by the consignor is placed in the vehicle cabin at all times. Driver shall ensure that he follows safe practices to avoid dangerous situations when the vehicle is in motion or stationary.
Rule 134 stipulates that the Emergency Information Panel (EIP) should be displayed on two sides and rear side of the vehicle for the product being transported. Information in the EIP should be complete and accurate as stipulated in the act.
Rule 135 stipulates that the driver shall be instructed properly by the transporter regarding the hazardous nature of the cargo and safe practices to be followed.
Rule 136 stipulates that the driver shall inform the nearest police station and vehicle owner/ transporter in the event of an accident.

The above descriptions are only brief and the customer and transporter shall go through the statutory requirements in detail and understand their responsibilities.

Petroleum Act 1934

A.Which of the goods produced by HOCL come under the classification “Petroleum” under the Petroleum Act ?

(i) Cumene (ii) Phenol (iii) Acetone

B.What is Petroleum under the Petroleum Act ?
Under the Petroleum act “Petroleum” means any liquid hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons and any inflammable mixture (liquid, viscous or solid) containing any liquid hydrocarbons.

C. How are goods classified under the Petroleum Act ?
    There are 3 classes of petroleum as under –
i)Petroleum Class ‘A’ - means petroleum having a flash point below 23 Deg C . Acetone   (with flash point (–) 20 deg C) comes under Class A.
ii)Petroleum Class ‘B’ - means petroleum having a flash point of 23 deg C. and above but below 65 deg C. Cumene   (with flash point 46 deg C) comes under Class B.
iii)Petroleum Class ‘C’ - means petroleum having a flash point of 65 deg C and above but below 93 deg C. Phenol   (with flash point 85 deg C) comes under Class C.

D.What is flash point ?
“ Flash point” of any petroleum means the lowest temperature at which it yields a vapour which will give a momentary flash when ignited, determined in accordance with the provisions of chapter 2 of the Petroleum Act.

E. Is a license required always for the transport or storage of petroleum ?

A license is required for the transport or storage of petroleum except in the following cases :-
i)Petroleum Class ‘B’ (Non Bulk) in quantity not exceeding 2500 ltrs. and in receptacle not exceeding 1000 ltrs.
ii) Petroleum Class ‘C’ (In Bulk) in quantity not exceeding 45,000 ltr.

F. Differentiate between Non-bulk and Bulk storage according to Petroleum Act ?
iii)a) ‘Non-bulk storage’ means storage of petroleum in receptacle /container/tank of water capacity not exceeding 1,000 ltrs.
iv)‘Bulk storage’ means storage of petroleum in container/tank of capacity exceeding 1,000 ltr
v)Which are the products manufactured by HOCL that requires license for transport ?

G. Transportation of HOCL is both in Bulk and Non-Bulk forms.
Acetone being a Class A petroleum product, it needs a license for transport.
Cumene being a Class B petroleum product it needs a license for transport.
Phenol being Class C, it does not require a license for transport in loads of Net weight below 45 MT.

Public Liability Insurance Act 1991

During transportation, the products of HOCL are under the custody of the transporter. As per the Public Liability Insurance Act 1991, the transporter shall be responsible for public liability during transportation. If an accident results in spillage of Phenol, it may have dangerous consequences and may cause loss to public. If the transporter does not have public liability insurance, since the sales in on exfactory basis, customer shall be the next responsible party. To protect the customers interest, HOCL ensures that the transporter has public liability insurance.

However, this is not a legal responsibility of HOCL. Whoever has control over the hazardous material at the time of accident is the ‘owner’ as per Public Liability Act and the owner is expected to take the insurance as per the law. It is important that the public liability insurance policy clearly mentions that the hazardous product (Phenol, Acetone, Hydrogen peroxide as applicable) is covered under the policy. Customers may insist that the Public liability policy of the transporter engaged by them is always valid and covers the hazards applicable in the transportation. Customers may continuously ensure that the transporter engaged by them has always a valid public liability insurance covering all the risks applicable in transportation. Otherwise customers shall be liable to bear the expenses by law in case of any public liability due to accident of the transport vehicle carrying their product..