Dangerous Goods Management – Intro

Process flow in SAP EHS-DGP.

Dangerous Goods Management

• What are Dangerous Goods?

Dangerous goods are substance or materials that pose an acute risk to people, property and the environment due to their chemical or physical properties.

Goods are treated as dangerous goods if they are labeled as such, (though small containers may not be marked this way). To determine whether a product is a dangerous good, you can:

• Check its label
• Check its shipping or transport documents
• Check the product’s safety data sheet (previously called the materials safety data sheet)
• Check with the manufacturer or supplier of the product
• Check if the product is listed in the dangerous goods list of the ADG Code
• Have the products tested to the classification criteria of the ADG Code or the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria.

Dangerous goods are solids, liquids or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. These dangerous goods          are always subjected to rules and regulations when they are transported. The team that transports these dangerous goods is trained fellows.           When  labeling is employed, the containers or storage locations where it is stored is often marked by a diamond signage.

Dangerous goods exist in almost all businesses, big and small. Most workplaces – offices and industrial – use and store a variety of chemicals. Dangerous goods can explode or burst into flame. They can be poisonous, corrosive or have the capacity for sudden decomposition. Many common chemicals found in thousands of businesses look harmless, but if you don’t understand the risks – store them incorrectly, add heat, moisture or mix them together – they can become deadly. Examples for dangerous goods include: Gasoline, Li-ion batteries, Solvent paints, Acids, Blood samples etc…

The Dangerous goods transportation regulations include all the provisions for the transportation and carriage of dangerous goods by all modes of transport… i.e. Road, Rail, Water and Air. They are defined as:

• Road/Rail à ADR/RID
• Transport by riverà ADNR
• Maritime transportà IMDG code
• Air transportà ICAO or IATA

• MSDS : Material Safety Data Sheet

MSDS outlines the nature of the dangerous good. It helps to classify communicate the hazard information clearly and properly. It assist you with the proper shipping name, class of hazard, UN number etc… and much more related  in regard.

In SAP system, the correct handling of the dangerous goods is ensured by the following three components:

• Dangerous goods master data
• Dangerous goods check
• Dangerous goods documents

Dangerous goods master data

The SAP system uses the enhancement in the material master and the data from the substance database for the efficient and error free maintenance of the DG data.  The DG master provides all the required data for the sales and logistics purpose. The DG master data can be manually maintained using the t-code DGP1 or by an automatic process called filling using the t-code DGE5. All the legal data and the regulations related with the transport are maintained in the UN listed substance and during filling process, all these data are copied to the master.

Dangerous goods checks

In the SAP EH&S system, the DG checks are integrated into the SD process. The documents in delivery and transport are the start for the checks. Checks can be carried out manually or automatically.

Dangerous goods documents

This relates to the generation of dangerous goods documents as per law and printing other data on paper or as EDI. Features from the SD module are used for this purpose. The delivery document and the packaging list are extended to include the DG data.

Note: In SAP system, the Material is assigned into the Dangerous Goods and hence, the material gets listed with properties of the dangerous good. i.e., the material gets subject to regulations during its transport/shipment.

The DG has integrations with MM, SD, EHS Management and Product safety modules.

The steps for creating the basic data, master data, executing the check functions etc… will be shared in due time.

Thank You,

Chris Varghese.