How to Get Hazmat Employees Working ASAP, In Compliance

Logistics professionals constantly have products that need to go out the door and clients who are waiting for deliveries. On top of that, hazmat shippers are responsible for hazardous materials safety.

The US DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) put great emphasis on training, but a shipping department cannot always stop and wait for a new employee to finish in-depth training before work can continue.

So, what options do you have? How do you get hazmat employees working legally, as soon as possible?

Get Your Hazmat Employees Working ASAP

The HMR allows new hazmat employees to perform hazmat job functions before they’ve been trained only if two conditions are met:

• The employee is directly supervised by a properly trained and knowledgeable hazmat employee.
• The employee is trained within 90 days of being hired or changing jobs.

If a new employee makes a mistake, lack of training is not an excuse. In fact, failure to train hazmat employees is the only hazardous materials violation that comes with a minimum civil penalty, which is more than $600 per day per employee.

What Counts as Direct Supervision?

We’ve heard of a shipper who provided step-by-step packaging directions to hazmat employees by phone before they’d completed their hazmat training. This is not “direct supervision” in PHMSA’s eyes.

“Directly supervised” means that the supervisor has a direct line-of-sight to the new hire and can guide him or her at all times the employee is performing any regulated hazmat function—from classification of hazardous materials to packaging, marking, labeling, loading, unloading, and handling shipments.

The Problem With "Direct Supervision"

Being able to put more hands on the work faster is great. But when a supervisor can’t come in one day for whatever reason, you’re now down that supervisor plus any employees they was supervising. For that reason, we suggest training your new employees as soon as possible. A group of well-trained hazmat safety professionals means fewer slowdowns and stronger hazardous materials compliance.

Hazmat Training to Ship by Ground, Air, and Vessel

Lion provides hazmat training required to ship or transport hazardous materials by ground, air, or vessel under US Department of Transportation (DOT/49 CFR), IATA DGR, and IMDG Code standards.

Find the right training for your hazmat employees at Lion.com/Hazmat.