Hazardous substances and dangerous goods under the magnifying glass
On September 3, the Swiss Safety Center was all about dangerous goods and hazardous substances. The speakers covered a wide range of topics: From the handling of chemicals in a pharmaceutical company to the police's view of the transportation of hazardous substances.
This year, for the first time, the annual conference focused on both areas: dangerous goods and hazardous substances.
The conference kicked off with a presentation by Ronald Eng from the pharmaceutical company Idorsia in Allschwil. His company operates around 200 laboratories, all of which handle hazardous substances. The company has to store and provide around 60,000 different substances. As these are subject to very different requirements and regulations, substance management is complex. Eng gave the interested audience numerous examples of how the various groups of chemicals are stored, who has access to them and how they may be transported internally.
Innovations in SDR/ADR
Beat Schmied from Astra then gave an insight into the latest developments in the transportation of dangerous goods. For example, there are a number of new features to consider for SDR/ADR 2025. You can find an overview of these changes here: https://www.astra.admin.ch/astra/de/home/fachleute/fahrzeuge/gefaehrliche-gueter/revision.html.
The two speakers, Melanie Dussy and Laura Dorman, demonstrated how to correctly put on a protective suit and a protective mask on a live object and thus livened up the morning in an entertaining way. In their presentation on category 3 PPE, there was plenty of important information on how to avoid contamination, which is ultimately crucial for the health of employees: "PPE is the last line of defense against irreversible damage," said Dorman. "The hazardous substances are often so small that they penetrate through any gap." Instruction via video or PowerPoint is therefore not enough to train employees; they should regularly put it on themselves.
Insight into police work
In the afternoon, participants had the opportunity to put together a program according to their own wishes from six different presentations. Matthias Braun from the Zurich cantonal police provided an entertaining insight into his everyday work and gave a vivid demonstration of the infringements that occur when transporting dangerous goods on Swiss roads and what is important when it comes to transport documents.
Other presentations were devoted to the topics of explosion protection for SMEs, the regulation of PFAS and inspection activities in accordance with dangerous goods legislation in the canton of Basel-Stadt. The day ended with a friendly exchange of ideas over drinks.
Save-the-Date: The Dangerous Goods Conference Hazardous Substances 2025 will again take place on September 9, 2025 in Wallisellen at the Swiss Safety Center Academy.
