Many companies are in the process of achieving a quality assurance certificate which is consistent with BS EN ISO 9002. Some companies already comply with that standard and if this has been confirmed by a third party, certificates have been issued. However, regarding safety in the transport of dangerous goods, which should be seen as an essential part of quality management in distribution, BS EN ISO 9002 may not provide sufficient coverage.
This European Standard is supplementary to BS EN ISO 9002 and complements existing regulations. Its purpose is to provide a model for a safety management system for the transport of dangerous goods covering customer's needs and meeting the requirements of society. All the requirements of BS EN ISO 9002 are contained within BS EN ISO 9001 and the supplementary requirements contained in this European Standard may be applied equally to BS EN ISO 9001.
BS EN 12798:1999 addresses the specific features of the transport of dangerous goods. However, such transport is to be seen in the overall context of passenger and freight transport and is therefore fully integrated within the overall provision of rail transport. This European Standard takes into account development and liberalization in the railway sector; therefore not all requirements are applicable for all types of railway companies.