How to ship dangerous goods

When it comes to shipping, navigating the category of dangerous goods or hazardous goods delivery can be tricky. Often shippers are surprised to learn that their consumer products are, in fact, classified items according to UK law and have special regulations for transporting. At Amazon Shipping, we are pleased to support our shippers with reliable, tracked services for the transport and delivery of a range of dangerous goods.

If you’re a retailer or Amazon selling partner with stock including certain electronics such as mobile phones that contain lithium batteries, or beauty products, for example nail polish, perfume, essential oils, and more, keep reading to learn the full list of classified items we can readily deliver for you today.

Under UK government policy on shipping domestically, there are nine classes of dangerous goods which present different risks and shipping requirements. These encompass the highly dangerous (flammables, acids, and explosives) to everyday products such as paints, solvents, and pesticides. At Amazon Shipping we protect our network, staff, and customers by ensuring that all dangerous goods shipping regulations and legal/safety requirements are met.

It can sometimes be difficult to know what are dangerous goods. Cosmetic products such as aerosol sprays are widely known to carry certain risks, but people often forget that a wide range of beauty and electronic goods also contain hazardous and harmful substances.

Dangerous goods can be identified in a few ways, and may feature at least one of the following:

1. UN ID (United Nations Identification)
2. Hazard Class/pictogram
3. Transport label
4. Safety Data Sheet
5. Storage regulations

If you see a warning symbol, phrase, or any other indication on a product package, this means that it may be regulated for transport as dangerous goods. Importantly, not all goods require warning labels or phrases, so the absence of a label is not always a guarantee that it’s not classified as a dangerous product. We encourage all shippers to contact the manufacturer or supplier for a Safety Data Sheet (SDS). This will also include information about any transport regulations under Section 14 of the UK dangerous goods policy.

The standards and regulations around shipping dangerous goods also concern the specific transportation requirements on handling, labelling, and packaging. This is in accordance with the agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).

If you ship dangerous electronic or beauty goods, for example, you should be aware of the various requirements involved. There are specific transport requirements for shipping lithium batteries which affect their eligibility status. Aerosol cans and other limited quantity goods are also subject to shipping regulations around volume, packaging, and labelling. Before shipping your dangerous goods products, you should always make sure you understand the transportation regulations, which could include packaging, labelling, and quantity or volume restrictions.

In accordance with the UK standard for dangerous goods, we now ship classes 2 (division 2.1 and 2.2), 3 and 9. These include goods such as:

Amazon Shipping can help you to deliver your dangerous goods to customers safely and in line with existing dangerous goods shipping regulations.

Whether you're a large retailer shipping 500+ parcels per day, or small e-commerce business in need of small business shipping, we can help. Select your daily volume below to get started.