How do you dispose of your out of date flares?

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by marinesafety

John, TEPS are 1.4 only if they are in their original packaging, and they are transported in Secondary Transport Mitigation Cages (STMCs). Otherwise they are 1.2

Do you have a reference for that please?

[marinesafety]

This is from Ramora, who have the contract to dispose of TEPs for the coastgaurd:

"The issues with storing up TEPs for an extended period of time is the licensing issues involved. When flares become expired they are all classed in explosive hazard division 1.2 as opposed to the 1.3 and 1.4 they are classed as when in date.

The hazard division relates to the most hazardous item that you are carrying. So if you are carrying one 1.2 item, the whole load would be classed as 1.2 and limited to the 50kg threshold. Ramora can provide you with Secondary Transport Mitigation Cages (STMCs), which mitigate the hazard of pyrotechnics, allowing them all to be transported at 1.4. This enables more items to be transported and also adds another safety measure to the transportation of pyrotechnics.

On top of these requirements, all explosive items that you are transporting would need to be in their original packaging. This is not an issue for operational pyrotechnics, as unless they have been removed, they should be in their approved packaging. When it come to TEPs, due to the change in their hazard division their previous packaging is no longer approved. Along with our disposal and training solutions, Ramora can also provide approved packaging for transporting TEPs."

I can give you the contact details of the person I'm dealing with if you need further clarification.

[John Kennett]

I think they're trying to sell some expensive boxes!

Ramora should know what they're talking about, but I wonder whether this is their own interpretaion or if the HSE have made some strange change to the classification for TEPs.

Doesn't make any sense to me either way. The expiry date on distress flares is about making sure that they work reliably in a life saving situation - it's nothing to do with what hazard classification they are.

[Pikey Dave]

Remember remember the 5th of November................

[tonymac]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Remember remember the 5th of November................

12th July is coming up soon also!!