September is Compliance Months – Join Us in the Celebration with Discounted Hazmat Online Training!
Save 15% on all Hazmat University dangerous goods/ hazmat online training. This limited time “Hazmat Compliance Month” investment offer is aimed at encouraging hazmat employers as well as hazmat employees to meet their compliance requirements.
Hazmat University offers a complete range of online dangerous goods training courses. These include:
- IATA (ICAO) Shipping by Air
- 49 CFR (DOT) Shipping by Ground
- IMDG (IMO) Shipping by Vessel
- Multimodal Training
- Limited Quantities Training
- Lithium Batteries Training
- General Awareness Training
To learn more about these online courses, check out this interactive demo of hazmat online training. It will provide you clear insights about how these online courses are conducted.
Current and Comprehensive Hazmat Online Training
Hazmat online training courses are comprehensive in scope and meet one of the most important objectives for successful compliance and this is to learn how to navigate the hazmat/dangerous goods regulations and apply the information that it contains.
Need for Hazmat Online Training for Hazmat Compliance
Hazmat compliance must be a top priority in a hazmat shipper’s world. Historically, many organizations have viewed compliance as a cost of doing business and important primarily for safety and to avoid delays, civil or criminal penalties for non-compliance.
If you are new to the world of hazardous materials shipping, you may be wondering: what does it take to comply and why dedicate so much time, effort and resources into it? As you will soon find out, compliance is more than just a buzzword. Here is a general step by step process on the concept of hazmat compliance.
The Nature of the Industry
To understand the value of hazmat compliance, one must first fully understand the first word in that term. Hazardous materials have that name for a reason. Hazardous materials are articles or substances which are capable of posing a hazard to health, safety, property or the environment. And yet, facilitate thousands of shipments of hazardous materials every single day. They have proven essential for energy, manufacturing, and other essential parts of society as we know it. In order for these shipments to happen, hazmat employees must handle these materials on a regular basis. Federal and international regulations provide these assurances by creating, updating, and enforcing hazmat regulations. Hazmat employees must do their part by complying with the regulations.
Steps to Compliance
Of course, this may be easier said than done. Hazmat regulations cover the required aspects of the transport process, from inspection to packaging to shipping and more. To that end, they include detailed instructions, dangerous goods lists, and a plethora of minutia. Becoming familiar with all of these rules may take time – and can be quite tedious.
Despite this, hazmat employees must follow regulations to the letter. These rules are not arbitrary. Federal and international organizations create and update them for the sake of maintaining safety – not just for hazmat employees, but also, for the general public, property and the environment. If they seem overly strict and specific, that is because researchers and experts have deemed such strictness and specificity necessary for maintaining safety. Compliance ensures that safety is achieved.
Before offering hazmat to a carrier for shipment, the Hazardous Materials Regulations require the hazmat employer and hazmat employees properly classify, identify, package, mark and label the package to identify the hazard and prepare shipping papers when required.
If you determine that the substances or articles that are being shipped meet the defining criteria of a hazardous material or dangerous good, we recommend that you perform a needs assessment analysis to determine which employees will be performing a hazmat function and identify the level of training that is required.
Step 1: Are you shipping hazmat/dangerous goods?
The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a good starting point for determining if an item you are shipping might be classified and identified as a dangerous good. Typically, you can obtain an SDS from the manufacturer of the products that you intend to ship, and verify the transportation information section.
As stated above a hazardous material or dangerous good is defined as a substance or material that is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.(see 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Step 2: Have a trained employee research the material in the hazardous material regulations for the specific mode of transport intended to be used and determine the authorized quantities permitted to be shipped per inner and outer package and choose from the proper packaging options.
If UN-Specification packaging is required, read the package closure instructions carefully and obtain all the materials listed in instructions, such as tape, zip ties, poly bags, etc. Be sure to follow the information closely. Packages meeting UN specifications are tested with the materials listed in the closure instructions. Any variation from the manufacturer’s instructions is a violation and could compromise the integrity of the package.
Step 3: Once selection of proper packaging has taken place, obtain the appropriate hazard communication, i.e., markings, labels, and shipping paper/shippers declaration.
Step 4: Mark and label the package.
Step 5: Complete the shipping paper and offer shipment to the carrier when offering the packages.
Step 6: Your package is ready to be shipped.
Step 7: Comply with shipping paper retention requirements – Shipper’s Declaration on file for a period of two years.
The Need for Enforcing Hazmat Compliance
Along with having to follow these general steps there is also the need to enforce them. Failure to comply with regulations specifically designed to maintain safety around such goods has resulted in death and destruction. There should never be shortcuts!
Regulations exist in part to remind hazmat shippers about the dangerous nature of the goods they handle and profit from. If the urge to protect human life, environment and property is not enough to compel companies to comply, then hefty penalties for noncompliance will have to do.
Remember September is Compliance Month and 15% Off All Courses
To take advantage of this one-of-a-kind promotion, visit our courses page, choose a desired course, and enter coupon code “COMPLIANCE15” at checkout.
Want to learn more about our hazmat online training courses? Call us toll-free at (844) 864-1762 or dial (609) 337-6462
You can even email us at customerservice@hazmatuniversity.com.
