Shipping dangerous goods can seem complicated, and it certainly isn’t as straightforward as shipping regular items. However, once you’ve built up your knowledge the process can become simpler.

It’s important to understand the rules and regulations. These are stricter than when shipping regular goods, with important differences in areas such as packing, labelling and documentation.

You must also know which (if any) of your products are classed as dangerous goods. This is obvious for some, but perhaps not so much for others. Perfumes, laptops and mobile phones can all count too, for example.

So, if you’re new to shipping dangerous goods – or are about to start doing so – follow our seven-point checklist to help put your mind at ease.

There are restrictions on who can prepare dangerous goods for shipment. Anybody doing so from within your business needs to have received the appropriate training and understand the regulations. Or you could hire an external expert or company to do it for you instead.

Rules for the shipments themselves can vary depending on the transportation being used, and individual carriers will have their own restrictions on what they can and can’t carry (and where they can transport certain dangerous goods to).

It’s essential that you are aware of – and follow – all rules and regulations before shipping your dangerous goods.

Dangerous goods are those that can cause harm to health, safety, property or the environment. Some – such as explosives or chemicals – are easy to spot, but others aren’t and you may not be aware that your goods are classed as dangerous. Hair spray, nail varnish remover and furniture polish may not seem particularly risky, but they could all be classed as dangerous goods. If you are shipping products made elsewhere and you are unsure whether they are classed as dangerous goods, you can check the Safety Data Sheet provided by the manufacturer. You can find more information about dangerous goods regulations here.

Assuming your shipment is classed as dangerous goods, then you need to know how to categorise it. There are nine classes of dangerous goods, with some additional sub-classes among them. Goods in some of these need to be accessible to flight crew during a flight, while others don’t. You can find more details on the dangerous goods classes here.

Lithium batteries are in many products, from watches and power tools to smartphones and laptops. They are also classed as dangerous goods, so products containing them need to be shipped accordingly (see more details below).

Dangerous goods need to be packed differently to other items. The requirements for individual products may vary but are likely to include using UN-specification packaging with unobscured specification markings. You may also need to take other measures, such as having additional absorbent packing material or having a secondary means of closure. More information is available here.

If you’re shipping lithium batteries on their own, you must use strong, rigid outer packaging and you may require special labelling, depending on the type of batteries. If you’re shipping lithium batteries in equipment, you should make sure the batteries are not damaged or defective, and you must prevent them from coming into contact with conductive materials in case they short circuit. You should also prevent the equipment from accidental activation during transport.

More information on shipping lithium batteries – both on their own and contained within equipment – is available in our guide.

Marking and labelling packages correctly helps avoid fines, delays and is crucial to shipping the goods safely. First, make sure your box is big enough. All labels and markings must be on one side of the box and lie flat on the surface without wrapping round the sides.

Everything must be visible and unobscured, and both the sender’s and the receiver’s addresses should be affixed securely (or printed durably) to the side of the box. Labels – which can be purchased from the IATA dangerous goods website – should be affixed in a diamond shape so the shipment can be immediately identified as containing dangerous goods. Old labels on re-used boxes must be removed. More details on labelling and marking can be found here.

Dangerous goods require additional documentation in most cases. As well as the air waybill and customs documentation that’s needed when crossing international customs borders, you will likely need to include a shipper’s declaration inside the package. This certifies that the goods have been packed, labelled and declared according to the IATA dangerous goods regulations. You can find more information on completing one here.