All companies that transport dangerous goods are required by law to appoint and commission an internal or external dangerous goods officer. The workload of the dangerous goods officer can vary greatly depending on the activity of the respective company and varies between a few days per year and a 100% employment.

You are allowed to work as a dangerous goods officer if you have a valid training certificate, i.e. a dangerous goods officer training course, for the relevant mode of transport. This certificate is issued by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce after the basic course has been completed and the examination passed. The certificate is valid for five years and can then be extended by means of further training or a new examination.

No special prior knowledge or professional qualifications are required in order to be admitted to training.

The examination as a dangerous goods officer is carried out by an accredited examination center.

It is therefore quite possible that you will not take the exam at the training center.

Training as a dangerous goods officer should comprise at least 24 teaching units of 45 minutes each. As a rule, the training is completed within 3-5 days. Ask the training providers about the exact duration of the course.

As a dangerous goods safety advisor, you are responsible for the transportation of dangerous goods and substances with the following characteristics, for example:

• explosive
• (self-)ignitable
• Toxic
• infectious
• radioactive
• corrosive
• etc.

The training and examination as a dangerous goods safety advisor / dangerous goods safety advisor from abroad is not recognized in Switzerland. Both the training and the examination must be completed in Switzerland.