Safe Work Australia

Australian Forum Of Explosives Regulators approves labelling changes for Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs) containing explosives.

At the meeting of AFER on 16 November 2016 Australian explosives regulators agreed unanimously to remove the requirement for Emergency Information Panels (EIPs) on FIBCs containing explosives as required by section 3.2.7(1) of the Australian Code for the Transport of Explosives by Road and Rail. (AEC).

At that meeting, AEISG argued that the application of EIPs was an ‘Australianism” which impeded international/intermodal transport of explosives and made inclusion of GHS labelling requirements on FIBCs more difficult.

The AFER decision brings the labelling requirements of FIBCs for explosives in line with the UN Model Regulations and hence promotes consistency.

The AFER decision has since been confirmed by the recent release (October 2017) of the endorsement by the Queensland explosives regulator forwarded to all other explosives regulators for implementation in their respective jurisdictions.

The explosives industry in Australia welcomes the decision by AFER and will seek to have it included in a future review of the AEC.