RAILWAY TRACK SIGNALSHoward & Sons Pyrotechnics manufactures railway track signals (RTS), which are an audible safety signalling device used by rail organisations in Australia and New Zealand.Railway Track Signal (RTS) MSTDS All Other States & Territories PDF
Railway Track Signal (RTS) EPG PDF For more information, please contact our factory.
Railway track signals are classified as an explosive of Class 1.4S, but only if they are supplied, stored and handled in original packaging from Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics.
Original packaging means the packaging designed to contain the railway track signals in a manner that, if the packaging is involved in an incident such as fire engulfment, the signals will behave as if they were an explosive of Class 1.4S. The supplier or manufacturer of the signals will have tested the design of the packaging to achieve the classification of 1.4S. The packaging will also be dangerous goods packaging approved by a competent authority.
Railway track signals are sometimes referred to as ‘railway detonators’. This is a misnomer because railway track signals are not detonators and cannot be used as detonators.
STORAGE AND HANDLING
Railway track signals must be securely stored (locked) in an internal magazine that is constructed and marked in accordance with AS 2187.1 and kept in a secured building.
Users must also comply with any other safety requirement of the Explosives Regulation 2005, AS2187.1, any applicable licensing conditions and any other condition that may be imposed by WorkCover.
The quantity of railway track signals that can be sold, used, stored or transported without requiring a licence, is 10kg.
Unused railway track signals that are returned from service, whether they are within their use-by date or not, must be placed in their original packaging and stored in a magazine. Failure to do so will change the classification from Class 1.4S to Class 1.1G, creating a potentially dangerous situation – e.g. accumulating them in a bin or drum for later disposal.
TRANSPORT
Railway track signals issued to rail personnel must be kept in a locked portable magazine, or locked in the glove box of a vehicle, or in a locked compartment of a locomotive.
When transporting railway track signals on a road vehicle, signage for the vehicle is not required; however, transporting on a rail wagon requires a mixed-class label.
When distributing railway track signals for use, they should be transported, as far as is practicable, in their original packaging so that the classification of Class 1.4S is not altered.
USE
To use railway track signals safely and effectively, always follow the supplier’s or manufacturer’s instructions.
Do not use railway track signals for any purpose other than that for which they are designed.
When not required, return the signals to the packaging in which they came and place them in a portable magazine (if out in the field), or return them to the locomotive compartment or to a licensed storage magazine, and ensure that the magazine or compartment is locked.
DISPOSAL
Contact your supplier for pick up and disposal of unwanted or over-age railway track signals.
It is illegal and dangerous to dispose of railway track signals by burning, disassembling, burying and the like, if you are not set up and licensed by WorkCover to do so.
NSW WorkCover Fact Sheet
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