The road loading of high and low flash petroleum products can be considered as one of the potentially higher risk activities in a typical terminal operating environment.
To ensure that risks are managed to an appropriate level, the road tankers that enter the terminals must be designed and constructed to ensure that they are completely compatible with the loading rack mechanical, electrical and control systems.
Furthermore the mechanical and electrical systems fitted to the vehicles must be checked to ensure that they maintained to an acceptable standard.
The Safe Loading Pass Scheme seeks to apply appropriate risk control measures on behalf of the terminal operators who participate in the scheme.
The scheme is owned and managed by the SLP Management Group whose members include United Kingdom Petroleum Association (UKPIA) and the Tank Storage Association (TSA). The scheme is administered on behalf of the SLP Management Group by Logistics UK
Members of UKPIA and TSA who operate fuel distribution terminals all participate in the SLPS. To find out whether the terminals operated by your customers participate in the scheme, please contact them directly.
All new equipment should meet the requirements set out in the SLPS Inspection Manual, which can be downloaded here
All items shown in the Safe Load Inspection Manuals will be checked to ensure that they are fitted, operate as required and are in an acceptable condition
A copy of the SLPS Inspection Standards and Inspection Forms are available to registered users through the login page.
One Pass is required for a Rigid Vehicle. For an Articulated Vehicle, one Pass is required for the Tractor Unit and one Pass is required for the Tank Semi-Trailer.
Discs should normally expire on last day of the month, 6 months after expiry date of previous disc, provided the inspection was carried out within 28 days before previous disc expiry date.
It may be necessary to have a shorter validity period if the tank vapour tightness test expires earlier. If so, the expiry date should match the expiry date of the tank vapour tightness test. A shorter validity period may also be used, should the vehicle operator request it.
Please refer to the inside page of the Safe Loading Pass book of discs, Disc Administration section 2, for details.
Yes the terminal should provide an explanation to the vehicle operator in writing by email. If you are not satisfied that the reasons given are justified, you can raise the issue by contacting us.
Only Technicians appointed under the Scheme will be permitted to inspect your vehicle. These Technicians are approved only after attending the required training courses which conclude with an assessment of competency.
It is a requirement for all Technicians who are appointed under the scheme to undertake refresher training and re-assessment of competency every two years.
Inspection Providers must demonstrate that the standards set out by the SLPS Management Group are met. The standards and the way these are assessed are detailed in the documents: Safe Loading Pass Scheme – Inspection Location Standards; and Safe Loading Pass Scheme – Mobile Inspection Service Standards. Approved Inspection Providers are subject to formal re-approval every two years. For more details please see the Inspection Provider section of this website.
It is important to note that the SLPS standards and approval processes relate only to the requirements needed to carry out and manage Safe Loading Pass inspections. It is not intended to be a quality assurance scheme for workshops or inspection providers, so vehicle operators should carry out their usual due diligence procedures when choosing a supplier of inspection services.
The list of Inspection Providers, which have been approved to carry out inspections under the scheme, can be found by using the Inspection Provider Locator on this site. It should be noted that this list is being constantly updated and you are advised to ensure that any Inspection Provider appears on the current list.
As all approved Inspection Providers issue the same SLPS Disc to the same standard, you have complete freedom when deciding which Inspection Location to send your vehicles to.
There is no fixed time agreed to carry out the SLP Inspection. You are free to negotiate the cost of the actual SLP Inspection with your chosen Inspection Provider.
The inspection provider is charged £16 for each SLP disc, which may be passed on to you in addition to the cost of the inspection.
The inspection provider is currently charged £16 for each SLP disc. This cost is agreed by the SLPS Management Group and may be reviewed and amended as appropriate.
The revenue generated from these charges is used to cover the costs incurred by the on-going administration of the scheme. Income obtained from disc sales will not be used for any other activity which is not directly associated with the running of the Scheme.
If you are unhappy with the quality of a SLPS inspection, please contact the Inspection Provider used in the first instance.
If your quality issue has not been resolved, then please contact us.
A copy of the SLPS Inspection Manual can be downloaded here. If this does not answer your question, please contact us.
Your workshop must comply with the standards set out in the Safe Loading Pass Scheme - Inspection Location Standards. If you decide to make an application, your workshop will be inspected by an approved Assessor. There will be a charge for this assessment. If your workshop is appointed, there is a requirement for it to be re-assessed every two years. There is an additional charge for each re-assessment.
Only Technicians who have been approved to carry out SLPS inspections under the Scheme will be allowed to carry out inspections and issue SLP’s in your workshop.
It is important to note that the SLPS standards and approval processes relate only to the requirements needed to carry out and manage Safe Loading Pass inspections. It is not intended to be a quality assurance scheme for workshops or inspection providers, nor is it intended to assist or advise you in meeting your legal responsibilities, such as health, safety and environmental law.
For more details please see the Inspection Provider section of this website.
There is a database which supports the Scheme. It is accessed through the internet. It is secure and contains only information that is required to administer the Scheme. Any personal information which is recorded is secured and is restricted. The system meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
Access is restricted to authorised users and specified areas are controlled through a system of User Groups, access levels and passwords. There are sufficient safeguards in place to protect information from being seen by those not authorised to do so.
If you think you need access, then you can apply by contacting us.
If you work at an approved inspection provider you will receive notifications of any changes through your locations Communication Coordinator.
For other users of the Scheme, notification of changes will advised on the website.
The SLPS Inspection Technician training includes a pass/fail assessment of both knowledge and skills. The one-day course will concentrate on SLPS inspections and delegates will need to possess a level of competence in relation to the examination, testing and repair of tankers before they undertake the SLPS course, in order to achieve a pass. It is up to Inspection Providers to satisfy themselves that delegates are suitable for the course, but a guideline to suitability might include either:
To enquire about SLPS training, contact us.
Any technician who fails the end of course competency test must undertake the complete course and competency test again, and pass.
Please contact us for more information.
That’s entirely up to you. As a guide, you should have enough qualified technicians to provide an adequate SLPS inspection service.
Please feel free to contact us.
The engine cover is required to provide protection in order that product does not come into contact with heat sources, and the part of the engine required to be covered to the rear includes up to the point where the flywheel housing meets the transmission. The exhaust system needs to be effectively covered with the exception of silencers which have a surface temperature less than 200 °C and carry a manufacturer's label accordingly.
Demountable tanks carried on skeletal trailers are to have one SLPS inspection for the tank and trailer as a combined unit with details of the trailer vehicle identification number and the tank identification number included on the inspection form by the Inspection Technician. The SLPS database will only include details of the trailer. Therefore, a copy of the original inspection form is to be given to the haulier and carried on the vehicle to be presented to the terminal to confirm that both the tank and the skeletal trailer have been inspected as a combination.
Please note that to allow the demountable tank to be loaded with products within the scope of the scheme, the demountable tank has to meet the technical standards of the scheme.
The vehicle operator should contact the Inspection Provider who issued the disc. A replacement disc can be issued without the need for a re-inspection, provided:
The Inspection provider may levy a charge for the replacement of the disc as well as an administrative fee, but that is a commercial matter between the vehicle operator and the Inspection Provider.
In some cases, yes. The old scheme standards were designed for older more technically simplistic vehicles. Vehicles have become more complex and the new scheme standards, although originated from the old scheme, had a fundamental review prior to launch to incorporate modern vehicles and includes some additional items. As a consequence additional time may be required to ensure a quality inspection is completed.
Average inspection times gathered from inspection providers’ data are:
The SLP inspection provides an independent check of the vehicle’s condition on presentation and may provide the vehicle operator the opportunity to assess their maintenance provider’s service standards. The above times are provided for guidance only, inspection locations are free to set their own Safe Loading Pass Scheme inspection durations. For details of inspection locations please see here: http://safeloadingpass.co.uk/inspections/inspection-provider-locator/
If a vehicle is removed from an inspection location following a failed Safe Loading Pass inspection, a full SLP inspection will be required when the vehicle is re-submitted following rectification of the failed items. However, provided any items that fail during a SLP inspection are rectified and the inspection continues then there is no need for a re-inspection.
The Safe Loading Pass Inspection Technician must be satisfied that all areas and items of the Inspection Standards are met at the time of issue of the SLPS disc. This means that partial inspection of only the failed items found on previous inspections is not permitted.
In the circumstance where a vehicle is handed to another technician to complete the ongoing SLP inspection and provided the vehicle has not been allowed to leave the IL then this change of technician will have to be noted on the inspection form with the sections completed and signed by the inspecting technician to the point of hand over. From this point the technician who completes the remainder of the inspection will have to sign the completed inspection form and issue the SLP and be recorded as the issuing technician on the SLPS database.
If the vehicle has been type approved to the requirements of ADR, and the factory fitted component location has been accepted under the type approval, then providing there is no obvious evidence that the component has been moved since the original ADR approval, and the components are tightly packed in the chassis area with the battery box located as close as practicably possible to the rear of the rear engine cover, and there is evidence available confirming ADR approval to the inspection technician then this would be acceptable for the SLPS inspection requirements.
Please do not use pencils or ball point pens when completing a SLP disc as these can fade before the disc expires. The recommended type of pen to use is a thin tipped permanent marker pen.
The tanker in question falls outside the scope of the SLPS and therefore cannot be issued with a pass - the scheme is designed for spirit tankers loading at terminal racks. The Energy Institute has been approached by the SLPS Management Group to test the safety implications of using pressurised vehicles within terminals to load spirit more fully.
In the meantime, the vehicle operator should contact their customer or the terminal directly regarding entry as an individual risk assessment will need to be completed and entry restrictions agreed. To support this, they may wish to contact their maintenance provider who could provide a check of the vehicle/ADR compliant components to make available evidence of satisfactory maintenance. It must be stressed however that this type of inspection/service should be completely independent of any safe loading pass inspection activities, its content and scope decided upon collectively by the terminal, maintenance provider and operator.
If the vehicle you wish to check has a disc number of ‘A00054321’ then please either search for:
000543-21 or
543-21
If the disc is valid and currently ‘active’ it should be displayed.
Alternatively, you should be able to search by either the vehicle registration or trailer ID.
SUMMARY LIST OF REGULATIONS AND UK GUIDANCE
Consolidated list of applicable regulations and guidance documents (not exhaustive), which are related to the use of electrical equipment fitted to Dangerous Goods vehicles and trailers that are considered when assessing the conformity, or otherwise, to ADR regulations and other requirements applicable for vehicles operating from UK terminals under the Safe Loading Pass Scheme:
▪ ADR 2021 – Part 9 Electrical Equipment and Installations:
▪ ATEX Directive Equipment Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres - 94/9/EC
▪ BS EN 60079 Part 14 - 2014 – Explosive Atmospheres: Electrical installations design, selection and erection
▪ EC DIRECTIVE 2014/53/EU – Radio equipment (repealing Directive 1999/5/EC)
▪ DSEAR – Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 – HSE L138 Approved Code of Practice and guidance
▪ HSE Guidance – HSG 176 Storage of Flammable Liquids – Approved Code of Practice
▪ Energy Institute – Petroleum Road Tanker Design and Construction - 4th Edition - October 2019
▪ FCS1362:2016 – Installation of mobile radio and related ancillary equipment in land-based vehicles
▪ FCS1364:2019 – ADR ‘FL’ & ‘AT’ Vehicle Radio Communication Equipment Installation (superseding EI 2004 Radio Communication Equipment publication)
▪ Energy Institute – Research Report 2014 - Investigation of possible ignition risks of button cell energised devices in potentially flammable atmospheres
▪ Safe Loading Pass Scheme – Liquid Fuel Inspection Manual – SLPS 020/MC/02 05 21, LPG Inspection Manual – LPG 003/MC/02 05.21
Other publications may be considered dependant on the equipment specification and operating conditions.