Tdg
Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) is the Canadian regulatory framework, established by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations, governing the safe handling and transport of dangerous goods by road, rail, marine, and air. In manufacturing and warehousing, TDG defines identification, packaging, labeling, and documentation requirements, including shipping name, primary class, subsidiary class, UN number, packing group, compatibility group, and infectious substance category.
On a manufacturing shop floor, TDG controls how hazardous raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods are identified, packaged, labeled, secured, and handed off for transport. When a delivery arrives, receiving staff must determine whether the pallet can be put away immediately, requires segregated staging, or needs containment and paperwork verified before it enters inventory. In storage, TDG classification drives segregation and compatibility checks, preventing dangerous goods from being mixed with incompatible materials. WMS or ERP records must preserve attributes such as UN number and packing group so downstream picking, replenishment, and carrier booking use the correct regulatory profile. Before shipment release, the system blocks the load until labels, containment, and documentation meet TDG requirements. This operational control affects dock flow, forklift movement, and carrier acceptance, because dangerous goods must be transported in a means of containment designed, constructed, filled, closed, secured, and maintained to prevent release during handling.
- Misclassified material in ERP/WMS: An incorrect UN number, packing group, or primary class causes the load to be staged and loaded under the wrong handling rules, creating shipment rejection, compliance exposure, or incompatible-material co-mingling.
- Poor receiving segregation: Inbound dangerous goods left unsegregated at receiving turn the dock into a bottleneck, since the shipment cannot be put away or cross-docked until containment and documentation are verified.
- Incomplete transport readiness: When labels, packaging, or closures do not match TDG requirements, carriers may refuse pickup or fail handoff inspection, leaving inventory stranded in shipping and disrupting production supply replenishment.
Is TDG the same as WHMIS?
No. TDG governs the transport of dangerous goods, while WHMIS governs hazardous products in the workplace. They overlap operationally but apply to different control points in the supply chain.
What data fields matter most for TDG in inventory systems?
The critical fields are the shipping name, primary class, subsidiary class, packing group, UN number, compatibility group, and infectious substance category.
What is the core operational rule behind TDG containment?
Dangerous goods must be transported in a means of containment that is designed, constructed, filled, closed, secured, and maintained so no release occurs under normal transport handling.