What are dangerous goods?

Dangerous goods are articles or materials capable of posing a significant risk to people, health, property or environment when being transported.

When in doubt whether a shipment is dangerous or not, ask the manufacturer or supplier for a Safety Data Sheet also known as SDS.  When it contains a UN number it is dangerous goods. On that SDS it should also mention the classification of the dangerous goods. This information can usually be found in ‘section 14-Transport Information’ of the SDS.

Examples of Dangerous Goods

The list of substances and articles that are classified as hazardous materials is very extensive. Some are obvious, yet others not so much. Examples of the ‘not so obvious’ consumer type articles that are classified as hazardous are certain alcohol based hand sanitisers, perfumes, aerosols (eg: deodorant), certain paints and varnishes, matches and anything containing lithium batteries – like phones and laptops.