CSC safety approval plate

The CSC safety approval plate is the metal plate that records a container approval under the International Convention for Safe Containers, 1972. Annex I Regulation 1.2(a) requires it to carry the words CSC SAFETY APPROVAL, the country of approval and the approval reference, the month and year of manufacture, the manufacturer identification number, the maximum operating gross mass in kilograms and pounds, the allowable stacking load for 1.8 g, and the transverse racking test force in newtons.

Tare is not on the plate. It is painted on the door or rear end under the ISO 6346 marking rules, which is why the two figures a packer needs sit in two places on the same unit. The plate also records the examination regime: a first examination not more than five years from manufacture and subsequent examinations at not more than 30 months, run either as a periodic examination scheme with the next examination date marked, or as an approved continuous examination programme.

The full article will cover each required plate element, the amendments at MSC.310(88) and MSC.355(92) that produced the current specification, the limited stacking and racking capacity markings, the examination schemes and their records, and how a surveyor reads a plate in the field. The payload arithmetic the plate feeds is in CBM and chargeable weight .