What Are Dangerous Goods?     

Dangerous Goods are items that may endanger the safety of an aircraft or persons on board the aircraft. Dangerous Goods are also known as restricted articles, hazardous materials and dangerous cargo. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) or the local Civil Aviation Authority Regulations governs their carriage onboard aircraft. Many common items found in your household are considered dangerous goods for the purpose of air transport.
Dangerous goods are items or substances that when transported by aircraft are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment.
These include obvious things, such as: explosives, radioactive materials, flammable liquids, dangerous or volatile chemicals, strong acids, compressed gases, poisons and aerosols.

Everyday items that can cause problems include toiletries, aerosols, tools and lithium batteries.
Safety is everyone's responsibility and failing to declare dangerous goods can result in fines or imprisonment.
Dangerous goods are articles or substances which can pose a significant risk to health, safety or to property when transported by air. A look in the garden shed or under the kitchen sink will reveal a wide array of items which are potentially dangerous goods. A few examples of household objects include pesticides, acids, aerosols, perfumes, bleaches, matches, cigarette lighters, camping stoves with liquid fuel or compressed gas, anything that contains or has contained petrol, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, brushcutters, model aircraft etc, batteries, fireworks, sparklers.

Classes of dangerous goods

There are nine primary classes of dangerous goods. Some classes have been sub-divided to adequately describe the nature of the properties of the individual goods.
There is a label for each class or division to show what each hazard is. For example, toxic substances or radioactive material. These labels must appear on the outside of the package and must stay on the package while it’s in transit. The labels are also on most inner packages such as aerosol cans, bottles of bleach, containers of thinners, tins of paint that you purchase in the supermarket.

How do I know if my product is considered to be Dangerous Goods / Hazardous Material?

The Regulations place the responsibility for correct classification of dangerous goods on the shipper. Advice on the correct classification of a substance should be sought from the manufacturer or distributor of the substance. In addition classification may be performed by an accredited testing laboratory or advice can be sought from a competent authority.