Temporary storage of dangerous goods | Traficom
Skip to main content
Transport and Communications Agency

Temporary storage of dangerous goods

Requirements on the temporary storage of dangerous goods and the party carrying out temporary storage as a part of transport have been set in the Act on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.

What is temporary storage of dangerous goods as a part of transport?

Dangerous goods can only be stored temporarily during a change of transport or necessary storage as a part of transport. The party carrying out the transport must have documents showing the location of consignment and reception of the transport. The transport package or container is not opened during temporary storage.

The statutory breaks included in transport, such as stops in accordance with the Driving Time and Rest Periods Regulation, do not constitute temporary storage.

Internal emergency plan of the temporary storage location

The operator carrying out temporary storage must draw up an internal emergency plan and submit an application for its approval to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. The internal emergency plan must be drawn up before starting the operations and it must be updated in connection with significant changes; however, the minimum update interval is five years.

No internal emergency plan is required for an aerodrome.

The internal emergency plan is drawn up:

1) in a port area, by the port authority together with the parties providing cargo handling services at the port;

2) at a railway network location, by the railway network infrastructure manager together with the rail transport operators and other parties operating in the area;

3) by the operator storing dangerous goods temporarily in locations other than the ones indicated in items 1 and 2.

Before approving the internal emergency plan, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency reserves the rescue authority, the regional Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the Regional State Administrative Agency, the municipality and, if necessary, other authorities an opportunity to state their opinion on the internal emergency plan.

When drawing up an internal emergency plan for the temporary storage location, the aim is to take account of the nature and scope of the operations and the amount and type of substances transported. 

Among other things, the following must be included in the internal emergency plan:

  • report of the substances to be stored and their hazardous properties
  • report of the accident scenarios identified and their estimated impact
  • plan for the measures to be implemented in case of an accident
  • description of the measures taken to prevent the impact of potential accidents and minimise the consequences
  • plan for training the personnel and organising disaster drills; they must be arranged regularly in order to ensure the functionality of the internal emergency plan

The party drawing up the internal emergency plan must appoint a person responsible for the temporary storage location. The responsible person must know how to act during temporary storage, the related requirements and the preconditions for safe operation.

Apply for approval of the internal emergency plan of the temporary storage location for dangerous goods

Send the application
Page was last updated