Carefulness and safety are a top priority

At Frankfurt Airport, dangerous goods and hazardous substances are handled with particular care. To ensure safe storage of dangerous goods in compliance with the German Federal Pollution Control Act, Fraport AG has installed an officially approved special warehouse facility at Frankfurt Airport's CargoCity South. Fraport's and the Fraport Cargo Services (FCS) dangerous goods specialist are busy at this facility round-the-clock checking both the physical properties and the documents of all dangerous goods consignments. When dangerous goods are transported by air, the pertinent data of the goods are relayed to the respective receiving airports according to IATA standards. Every two years, our dangerous goods team receives refresher training to meet ICAO requirements. In addition to the relevant laws, the training inter alia covers the special provisions governing radiation protection. Regular training ensures that all employees involved in handling dangerous goods have comprehensive expertise and detailed knowledge in this specialized field.

For detailed information about our know-how in dangerous goods handling click here.

Specialists meet regularly

Fraport also organizes regular meetings for radiation protection and dangerous goods specialists (dubbed "dangerous goods committee") to exchange technical know-how. Consisting of representatives from Fraport, airlines, shipping companies and regulatory agencies, this dangerous goods committee meets six times a year to evaluate the latest findings and regulations and find a practical approach to their implementation. Furthermore, Fraport is an active member of the German Airports Association (ADV) and serves as the official advisor of the Federal Republic of Germany on the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel.

Furthermore, with the Rhine-Main Dangerous Goods Conference, we have given the issue a new focus.  This is the only conference of its kind to concentrate on dangerous goods in air transportation. To date we have organized various supra-regional dangerous goods conferences for the air transport industry. The conference offers regulatory agencies and industry experts a platform to discuss the latest industry trends and exchange information on planned amendments of the law.

The next Dangerous Goods Conference at Frankfurt Airport will take place in October 2008.

Safe use of hazardous substances

Safety is also a top priority for the use of hazardous substances. People and the environment must be protected from harmful effects of hazardous substances and formulations. Under both EU and German law the use of hazardous substances is governed by the Chemicals Act and its implementing regulations, i.e., the Hazardous Substances Regulations. These mandate the control of all chemical substances, formulations and products, taking into account industrial safety, health, and environmental criteria, and require strict compliance with clearly defined safety precautions and rules of conduct. Fraport takes every opportunity to reduce the quantity of hazardous substances used. Using a product evaluation procedure, the company checks whether there are options for replacing a given hazardous substance with a less hazardous one, or whether the respective operational process can be dispensed with or modified. For monitoring the use of hazardous substances, we have contracted renowned test institutes to carry out tests on a regular basis.