Is Hazmat Training Critical to your Business?
By Alan I. Roberts, Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety
U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration
Reprinted with permission from http://hazmat.dot.gov

More than one-third of the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration's enforcement actions pertaining to violations of the hazardous materials transportation regulations involve the failure of hazmat employers to provide training or maintain test records.

In most cases violations are attributed to failure to provide function specific training. For example, an investigator questions incorrect entries on a shipping paper prepared by a hazmat employee who responds that he was not instructed, nor tested, by his hazmat employer regarding the preparation of shipping documents.

Some hazmat employers rely on persons who claim they provide training, without checking their qualifications and references. We have heard of so-called hazmat training entities who claim the quickest (least time consuming) and lowest price training programs that include tests and certificates of completion. I suggest that when you see or hear of such a claim, you closely check the credibility of their claims. We list on the DOT/RSPA website a number of organizations and businesses who provide hazmat training. Most are excellent sources of training, but we cannot attest that all who avail themselves of the opportunity to be listed are providing training that would result in compliance with the hazmat training regulations.

One question you should ask is whether the training provided of the general awareness type, or function specific to the kind of activities conducted by your company. In addition, you should determine if the safety training is appropriate to your business activity. For example, the safety training provided a driver who unloads cargo tanks may be quite difference from the safety training given transportation workers who handle infectious medical wastes.I strongly recommend you consider hazmat training as a critical element to the future of your business and not as something that management, including senior management will look into during an enforcement proceeding, or after an accident. When training becomes an issue after an accident, a DOT penalty action may not be most significant when compared to the outcome of a civil proceeding to determine the extent of liability or punitive damages.