Training FAQ

The U.S. Department of Transportation mandates provisions for training to any company that performs any function regulated by the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR). This includes any of the following functions:

• offers hazardous materials for transportation,
• packages, marks or labels hazardous materials for transportation,
• loads or unloads hazmat transport vehicles,
• transports hazmat,
• receives and forwards hazardous materials shipments,
• manufactures packaging used to transport hazmat, and/or
• conducts testing for hazmat packaging.

Each hazmat employer is required and responsible for training each of their hazmat employees. This is true for businesses of any size (e.g. self-employed, partnerships, corporations, etc.). There are no exceptions to this rule.            

As soon as you place the order in the store, you will receive an order confirmation which provides enrollment codes and instructions to follow.   You can order for yourself and/or for your employees.   Once you receive your order confirmation, simply follow the instructions to register as a student (if not already registered as a student) and to enroll in the course(s) ordered.  The next step is to take the course, and retrieve the certificate of completion.  It's as simple as that!   

A hazmat employee is any of the following:

• Employed on a full-time, part time, or temporary basis by a hazmat employer and who in the course of such full time, part time or temporary employment directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety;
• Self-employed (including an owner-operator of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft) transporting hazardous materials in commerce who in the course of such self-employment directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety;
• A railroad signalman; or
• A railroad maintenance-of-way employee.

This term includes an individual, employed on a full time, part time, or temporary basis by a hazmat employer, or who is self-employed, who during the course of employment:

• Loads, unloads, or handles hazardous materials;
• Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce.
• Prepares hazardous materials for transportation;
• Is responsible for safety of transporting hazardous materials;
• Operates a vehicle used to transport hazardous materials.

New hazmat employees and hazmat employees who undergo a change in job function must complete initial training within 90 days after employment or change in job function [49CFR §172.704(c)(1)]. Recurrent training must be completed at least once every three years [49CFR §172.704(c)(2)].

Some modes of transportation and other countries may have shorter time frames where initial and recurrent training must be completed (e.g. IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations for transporting hazmat by aircraft requires recurrent training at least once every two years [IATA DGR 1.5.0.3]).            

Online training is different from classroom, instructor-led training in several ways. While having a live instructor in a classroom setting is the ideal training environment, we have formulated an alternative approach with our online training that matches (or surpasses) standard classroom training. Our online training offers the following benefits over classroom training:

• Lower cost — there are no travel or instructor costs associated with online training
• Self-paced learning — learn the regulations at your own speed; rewind, fast forward through and repeat a course for specific training material helps students learn and retain important information
• Instant enrollment — register for a course and begin learning right away; no waiting for a start date or instructor to arrive
• Relevant training content — regulations may be updated several times throughout the year; online training courses are updated with the latest regulatory provisions available
• Certificate of training — print out your Certificate of Training upon course completion to comply with record retention requirements

There are no exceptions to the rule. If you ship or transport anything considered a hazardous material of any quantity and of any frequency, you must be trained. Updated records of your training must be kept and available upon request.            

The Bureau of Dangerous goods offers other options for training, including classroom training, webinars, and on-site training.  If you aren’t yet sure about whether you want the convenience of self-paced online hazmat training, we’ll work with you to help select the training option that is best suited to your company’s needs.  

Students who successfully enroll and complete their online hazmat training course at Hazmat University will receive a certificate that meets the requirements of record keeping for trained hazmat employees [49CFR §172.704(d)]. This certificate will include the following information:

• The hazmat employee's name,
• The completion date of training,
• A description of the materials used to meet the requirements for training,
• Name and address of training provider,
• Certification that the hazmat employee has been successfully trained and tested.

Each course is comprised of one or more modules consisting of a lesson and an exam. Upon successfully completing all modules, the student will be awarded with a Certificate of Completion, provided payment has been received.            

All shipments of hazardous materials transported from, to, or within the United States are subject to the requirements of the U.S. Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) found in Title 49 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR).  Hazardous materials being shipped internationally by air or by vessel are additionally subject to mode-specific requirements of the International Air Transport Association's IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations or the International Maritime Organization's IMDG Code.

While the Hazmat University courses covering air or vessel transportation are based on the international regulations and standards, they additionally reference U.S.-specific requirements which may apply to ensure that your shipments are fully compliant both domestically and internationally.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), along with the modal enforcement agencies of the U.S. DOT, conduct unannounced inspections of the activities of both shippers and transporters of hazardous materials.

49 CFR §107.329   Maximum civil penalties:

(a) A person who knowingly violates a requirement of the Federal hazardous material transportation law, an order issued thereunder, this subchapter, subchapter C of the chapter, or a special permit or approval issued under this subchapter applicable to the transportation of hazardous materials or the causing of them to be transported or shipped is liable for a civil penalty of not more than $89,678 for each violation, except the maximum civil penalty is $209,249 if the violation results in death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person or substantial destruction of property. There is no minimum civil penalty, except for a minimum civil penalty of $540 for violations relating to training. When the violation is a continuing one, each day of the violation constitutes a separate offense.

(b) A person who knowingly violates a requirement of the Federal hazardous material transportation law, an order issued thereunder, this subchapter, subchapter C of the chapter, or a special permit or approval issued under this subchapter applicable to the design, manufacture, fabrication, inspection, marking, maintenance, reconditioning, repair or testing of a package, container, or packaging component which is represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person as qualified for use in the transportation of hazardous materials in commerce is liable for a civil penalty of not more than $84,425 for each violation, except the maximum civil penalty is $186,610 if the violation results in death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person or substantial destruction of property. There is no minimum civil penalty, except for a minimum civil penalty of $508 for violations relating to training.

49 CFR​ §107.333   Criminal penalties generally:

A person who knowingly violates §171.2(l) of this title or willfully or recklessly violates a requirement of the Federal hazardous material transportation law or a regulation, order, special permit, or approval issued thereunder shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, except the maximum amount of imprisonment shall be 10 years in any case in which the violation involves the release of a hazardous material which results in death or bodily injury to any person.

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You have six months from the date of purchase to complete a course.

A course which has not yet been started may be transferred to another student within the same company within 3 months from date of purchase.   The course must be completed by the new student no later than six months from date of purchase.