Safe transport of goods and materials

There are regulations governing the transport of a number of types of non-hazardous goods and materials, such as food, animals and waste.

Transporting food

Your duties when transporting food include:

• keeping all food fresh and preventing it from becoming contaminated
• transporting food at the correct temperature to stop it deteriorating
• ensuring raw food is segregated from cooked food during transportation to prevent cross-contamination
• ensuring all containers and vehicles are cleaned regularly and thoroughly

Transporting animals

If you're involved in transporting animals, there are some key rules you need to be aware of. For example:

• vehicles must be well maintained and designed to carry animals safely
• animals should be handled by properly trained and experienced people
• there are limits to the amount of time animals spend being transported
• there are strict controls on the transportation of horses and young animals

You can find out about the transportation of animals.

Transporting waste

Most businesses that arrange to collect or transport waste on behalf of others must register with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). If you transport waste produced by your own business you don't usually need to register, unless you produce construction or demolition waste.

You should bear in mind that if the waste is classified as dangerous waste, you must comply with the dangerous goods requirements.

If you transport animal by-products - such as animal carcasses, parts of animal carcasses and some catering wastes - there are certain legal requirements that you must comply with.