is absolutely essential for the safety of your employees, supervisors, floor managers, and also all the members of the middle and top management who are directly involved in the transport and maintenance of these materials. It is important for candidates who want to become a part of your organization and look for a career in transporting hazardous materials or dangerous goods across state lines. The has always been proactive when coming up with the most advanced and technically sound solutions to provide aspiring hazardous materials handlers and professionals with the most relevant and updated hazmat training.
Hazmat training is not just a typical classroom instruction lesson. It involves remote learning and hands-on training as well. Classroom instructions cover all the topics and properties related to hazardous materials and these can be acquired remotely using learning management software. Hands-on training can also be facilitated using digital classrooms and AI-enabled simulations. But before we get into how logistics professionals stand to benefit from these training modules by ICCouncil, let’s understand what hazmat training is in the first place.
Defining Hazmat Training For Your Workers And Employees
Hazmat training is imparting education and knowledge of practical procedures that enable a hazmat employee to procure, stabilize, store, protect, distribute, and transport hazardous materials or dangerous goods as classified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (into 9 categories).
Hazmat Training Allows And Helps:
- Workers and employees to understand the various properties of all the different categories of hazardous materials efficiently
- Prevent accidents, leakages, and other unexpected incidents related directly to the risks of these hazardous materials
- Educate employees, workers, and managers in handling hazardous materials and upholding workplace safety for everyone
- Protect the environment by teaching your workers and employees about the various risks associated with the disposal of hazardous materials and hazardous material waste products
Different Types Of Hazmat Training
- Basic Hazardous Materials Awareness
This is where we talk about hazardous materials awareness. It teaches your workers and employees how to protect themselves and other people who are directly involved in the transport and management of hazardous materials. This type of training also helps them prevent unexpected exposure to hazardous materials that can be dangerous, injurious, fatal, and extremely damaging not to just the personnel but to the environment as well.
- Decontamination Procedures And Protocols
In case of any leakages and spills, the right contamination procedures need to be followed to the last detail. If someone happens to come into contact with any hazardous materials or happens to inhale or touch any gases or liquid respectively, your employees and supervisors should be aware of the contamination procedures that are applicable considering what class or category of hazardous material the person has been exposed to.
- Firefighting Techniques
There are numerous materials both in gaseous and liquid form that can be extremely dangerous because they are flammable by nature. They can catch fire easily and cause a lot of destruction even when exposed to a slightly elevated temperature or a different level of humidity. So yes, hazmat employees need to go through very strict firefighting training as well.
- Hazardous Materials Technician Training
You will have to deal with not just hazardous materials but hazardous waste products as well. This is where it is required of your employees and workers to understand how to carry out the safe disposal of hazardous material waste products. There are very stringent protocols and rules to be followed.
Do Your Employees Need Hazmat Training?
According to the HMTA, it is critical for your organization to invest in hazardous materials training for your employees and make sure that they receive the training certificate on time if you are involved in the transportation of hazardous materials or dangerous goods. The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) at 49 CFR 171-180 states this quite clearly.
You are required to ensure hazardous materials training if any of the following applies to you:
- If you employ drivers who carry hazardous materials regularly as a part of their job duties
- When your transportation workers are working directly with freight that contains hazardous materials as defined by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- In case any of your lab technicians happen to handle samples of dangerous substances or hazardous materials belonging to the same 9 categories defined by the federal body
- When anyone you employ who transports hazardous materials has a valid hazmat endorsement on the commercial driver’s license that they hold
Should The Common Man Be Worried About Imbibing Hazmat Knowledge?
Ideally, it is preferred that customers or any consumer of any hazardous materials should be aware of a few precautionary and safety measures. These can be residents in apartment buildings that are located close to a chemical storage facility. People who get exposed to certain chemicals or dangerous goods must do their research on preventive measures that can protect them and their loved ones from such harmful chemicals. First responders are also recommended to sit through as a part of their on-the-job training because their duties require them to act to prevent contamination and contain the risks associated with hazardous material leakages.
ICCouncil says that the understanding of hazardous materials is important for everybody working in the transport sector, especially someone involved in the handling, distribution, management, storage, and transportation of hazardous materials. There is no excuse to leave this out. You cannot stay compliant with the rules and regulations of the Department of Transportation unless you fulfill this requirement. If you fail to do so, you will be inviting hefty fines and penalties your way. Needless to say, you will be putting everyone working in your organization at risk and your reputation in jeopardy.