Posted on July 26, 2021 by
Roseanne Bottone and Roger Marks
DOT requires hazmat training for all employees who can affect the safety of hazardous materials in transport. That includes employees who do high-level hazardous materials jobs like classifying hazardous materials for transport, selecting proper shipping names, or choose appropriate packaging for a hazmat product.
Hazmat training is also required for employees with hands-on shipping responsibilities like packaging materials, affixing marks and labels, handling packages, loading or unloading vehicles, and filling out or signing shipping papers.
DOT requires employees to complete hazmat training within 90 days of hire date or job assignment. Training must be repeated at least once every three years (49 CFR 172.704).
Read More: Who Needs Hazmat Training?
Does DOT Require Re-Training When I Switch Jobs?
As the US economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, many professionals will be starting new jobs with new employers. Which raises an important question—Do you need to re-take your hazmat training because you switched employers?
The US DOT allows for “relevant training from a previous employer or other source” to be used to satisfy the hazmat training requirements, provided a current record of training is obtained from your previous employer. The training must have been completed before the three-year anniversary date of your most recent initial or recurrent hazmat training.
Ultimately, it is your new employer’s responsibility to determine if your previous hazmat training is adequate for your new role.
The five elements of training required by the DOT, detailed in 49 CFR, Subpart H, are:
- General awareness training,
- Function specific training,
- Security awareness training,
- Safety training, and
- In-depth security plan training.
Will you be performing the same functions as you did in your last role, or will your current employer want you to be prepared with additional skills and knowledge? Your new site may have different security issues and general protocol.
The hazmat safety training you receive should be based on the specific chemicals and hazards you may encounter at work, which may change when you switch jobs. Lastly, if your new site has a written cargo security plan, you must be trained on the elements of that plan regarding the hazardous materials you work with or may encounter – and these plans are site specific.
Is My Lion Certificate Proof?
When you take hazmat training with Lion, you receive a certificate to help you and your employer document your successful training.
DOT requires the hazmat
employer to keep detailed training records. A hazmat employer’s training record must include the following information:
- The hazmat employee's name;
- The most recent training completion date of the hazmat employee's training;
- A description, copy, or the location of the training materials used for training;
- The name and address of the person providing the training; and
- Certification by the employer that the hazmat employee has been trained and tested.
While much of the information above can be found on your Lion Certificate, your employer must add the workplace-specific elements to your training record.
If you need to present proof of the training you’ve completed with Lion Technology to your new employer, you can view and print training Certificates in the Lion.com Training Portal anytime.
- Login here: www.Lion.com/Login
- Under “Completed Courses” you will find links to view and print certificates.
DOT Hazmat Training for New & Experienced Pros
New hazmat professionals can join Lion for
in-person hazmat training at an upcoming workshop in Charlotte, Orlando, Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and San Diego in Fall 2021.
Know your way around the HMR? The streamlined
Recurrent Hazmat Ground Shipper Certification (DOT) online course will help you satisfy US DOT's three-year recurrent training mandate in 49 CFR 172.704.