If your company ships any type of hazardous materials in commerce you will need to be advised of the new final ruling by the US DOT.  As stated below if will make it mandatory that hazardous shipments are properly packaged and labeled under 49 CFR, parts 100-185.   Failure to follow these regulations, can result in significant delay in the shipment of your package.

Federal hazardous materials transport inspectors will be allowed to open, detain, remove, and divert suspicious packages in transit for further investigation, under a final rule published March 2 by the Department of Transportation (76 Fed. Reg. 11,570).

What are hazmat package markings? By definition, markings can be a descriptive name, UN identification number (some are on placards or orange panels), instructions, cautions, weight, and package specification. Markings can also be UN marks (such as UN package identification code), or any combination required by the regulations on the outer packaging of hazardous materials. Marking on the outside of packages communicates the presence of the hazardous materials inside.

Unless there’s an exception in the regulations, a package is required to have markings displayed on the outside. When markings are required, there are also certain rules on how the marking has to be maintained (such as durability and legibility), minimum size requirements and times when the display for certain markings may be prohibited for bulk packages. Even the hazardous material itself may require an additional marking, such as a material that is poisonous by inhalation. The regulations also dictate how the marking has to appear on the packaging or transport vehicle, so make sure you consult the regulations on marking display. After all, it wouldn’t do any good to place a marking on the bottom of the package where nobody can see it right?

When determining whether or not a package has to marked and what kind of markings have to be on the package itself, it’s important that the hazmat shipping papers are looked at. Again, this re-emphasizes the importance of well prepared shipping papers. If shipping papers are prepared wrong it can start an avalanche of other violations! If you put the wrong UN identification number on the shipping papers, then you may have the wrong identification number on the package. So now you have two violations on an  inspection report – a shipping papers violation and a marking violation. If the transport vehicle itself was required to be marked with the UN number, and it’s marked wrong, that vehicle may be placed out of service.

Once you’ve looked at the shipping papers, take a close look at the quantity to determine whether you’re hauling a bulk or non-bulk amount of hazmat. If the material meets the definition of non bulk, then the general requirements of 172.301 (non bulk requirements) will apply. If the hazmat meets the definition of bulk, then the requirements for bulk packages in 172.302 will apply. Keep in mind that these are just the basic requirements for bulk and non bulk markings, and there may be more requirements that apply to the package.

Remember when marking hazmat packages, what the markings are for – to warn others of the danger inside that package. Make sure you take your time and get the markings right, others are depending on you!

The Compliance Resource Center has reported that both the domestic hazardous materials transportation regulations and international rules for shipping batteries have undergone significant changes over the past two years.  All batteries, alkaline, lithium, lead, nickel metal hydride, carbon zinc, etc., or battery powered products are subject to 49 CFR 173.21(c) in the U.S. hazardous materials regulations.   Many batteries that were previously unregulated or under-regulated must now be thoroughly evaluated to determine hazard potential. Detailed packaging and communication standards must be followed under. 

Adding complexity to the issue is the fact that shipping requirements vary greatly, depending on the mode of transport and the type of battery.  Battery shipping regulations affect a wide array of industries from manufacturers and part suppliers to freight forwarders and distributors.  Regardless of whether a lithium or lithium ion cell or battery qualifies for the exceptions in the regulations, shippers must still comply with requirements of 49 CFR 173.21(c). That is, the cells and batteries must be securely packaged and offered for transportation in a manner that prevents the dangerous evolution of heat and short circuits.

Both FedEx and UPS will refuse to accept packages not meeting FedEx, Government or IATA requirements.

Do you ship or receive any materials considered hazardous by the US DOT (49 CFR 172.101)?  If so, you MUST have a security plan (49 CFR part 172.800) which includes security awareness training to all who load, unload or have some responsibility putting the hazardous materials in commerce.  This might include the person in the office who fills out the shipping papers, or the forklift driver who unloads the truck in your loading bay.  Everyone involved with the process must be trained. 

The DOT has become more active fining companies and organizations for not having a security plan and not doing the training.  Large or small, profit or not-for-profit, it doesn’t matter.  Security awareness training is now considered one of the 5 parts of HAZMAT training.  the 5 parts include: General Awareness, Function-Specific, Safety, Security Awareness, and Security In-Depth (if you need and have a security plan as classified by (49CFR 172.800(b)(1-7). If your hazardous materials fall under this last part, then you must do a full security plan including a assessment and training.  The plan needs to be in writing and available to all who are affected.

The Compliance Resource Center can help you do a security assessment, write a security plan and customize hazmat training specificly for your company.  All of our HAZMAT training is customize for the hazardous materials you ship or receive.  You employees get ALL the training required by the US DOT Pipline and Hazardous Materials Safety Adminsitration.  DOT Hazmat training for ground is required every 3 years and for air and/or ocean every 2 years. 

Recently, Chuck Armstrong, Safety Manager for the City of Chicago, sent me a website to check out.  This short video http://www.hazmatsolutions.net/erg/ explains how to use an Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG).   Click on the quiz at the end of the presentation to test your knowledge.  

This video can also be used a part of a training class if your safety department is involved with hazardous materials.   

Thanks for passing this information to our readers.  If you have anything like this (which is not a commercial) let us know and we will give everyone the information to use.

Sources have been telling me that both OSHA & DOT’S PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) are actively conducting on-site inspections for violations.  OSHA has released it Site Specific Targeting Plan, while PHMSA is

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in May announced that it would focus on roughly 3,800 high-hazard work sites for unannounced comprehensive safety inspections in 2008. The visits will be part of OSHA’s 2008 site-specific targeting plan, according to a news release. OSHA has used such plans for more than a decade, honing in on different work sites based on injury and illness data.

“This program emphasizes to employers the importance of our enforcement efforts in ensuring safe working conditions for employees,” said Edwin G. Foulke Jr., assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, in a news release.  The work sites that will be included in this year’s targeting plan are those that have reported 11 or more injuries or illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activity, or job transfers for every 100 full-time employees.

OSHA also will randomly select and inspect about 175 workplaces with 100 or more employees that reported low injury and illness rates for the purpose of reviewing how well they actually comply with OSHA requirements, the release said.  

PHMSA has been very active in enforcement of hazmat (49CFR parts 100-185) regulations concerning the shipment of hazardous materials in commerce.  DOT’s current maximum civil penalty is $50,000 per violation.  Considering a shipment may have multiple vioaltions this amount can increase rapidly.  The number 1 fined incident is lack of current training.

So you better be good and you better be nice or OSHA/PHMSA might fine you twice.

Part of my job is researching and reading articles written about safety and compliance.  I have many different sources (none that I want to testify about) for OSHA, DOT, Homeland Security and more.  One of the reoccurring themes everyone (except me) likes to report on, is who is getting fined and how much it is costing them.  Many of OSHA fines are well over the $100,000 mark, and DOT is similar, if not more.  There doesn’t seem to be a lack of companies or organizations to fine.  Whether it is a Disney, a GE or some small construction company, incidents are still happening and the companies are still paying the price. 

Recently, I read where a construction company got fined over $250,000 for 2 employees getting injured (no deaths).  The company had previously been fined over $100,000 and warned by OSHA.  People have told me that the DOT is now going after companies who ship hazardous materials improperly, fail to provide training, failure to have a security plan and other assorted compliance issues.  These fines are reaching well over $100,000.  Remember the fine is not the only cost of incident.  The general rule is an average incident today cost the company about $25,000.  That company will have to sell an additional $700,000 at 4% gross profit to make up that cost.  That is a lot of additional sales for most companies and that is only if you have 1 incident.  Also there is the loss of productivity, and the probable increase in worker’s comp to add to that total.

So what’s the problem?  Most companies are reactive and not proactive.  Look at how many organizations reach VPP or STAR status as a percent of all the companies in business.  Not too many.  As the economy worsens positions that are non-revenue producing are the first to go, such as training or the safety manager.    Even though we know the safety and trainer indirectly add benefit to the bottom line, it is hard to quantify the amount of money they save a company.

Time is money especially in the trucking industry.  I know there are truck drivers who remove their DOT placards after they leave a company to avoid having the state police stopping them for 30-60 minutes.  What is the safety or transportation manager to do?

Really, I don’t have the answer.  Maybe some of you would like to share your success with our readers.  I only know the problem is not going away nor does it seem to be slowing down much.  Each year the top fined areas of OSHA hardly change.  Statistics show injuries and deaths are going down, but I not so sure that is a good indicator of what’s really happening. The reporting system (if the injuries are even reported) has changed to reflect fewer incidents (no first-aid is reported even if the employee sits out half the day).  As an example, I was doing some DOT consulting at a company and an employee was cut and bleeding.  The employee was put in an office until after work hours and then taken to the doctor.  After a few stitches the employee can to work the next day and was told to sit around doing nothing.  He did not miss a day of work and the incident was not reported on the OSHA 300 log.

Maybe we should look more closely are the amount of dollars fined instead of the number of reported incidents to get a true indicator that we are really in compliance and acting in a safe mode.  Safety professionals are always working to get upper management to support the safety effort, and others say we need the support of the supervisors.  Guess what people?  SAFETY NEEDS EVERYONE’S SUPPORT or there will be a breakdown somewhere.  Just like the production line.  Everyone needs to do the job to make the system work.

You know The Compliance Resource Center does not often write about products, but there are times when something comes along which our readers might find interesting and/or useful.  Here is one of those products. 

If you ship hazardous materials you might want to consider the new software program by EZHAZMAT.  This new software walks you through the process of correctly shipping hazardous materials in compliance with 49CFR part 100-185.  The program identifies the correct shipping name, gives the shipper the correct markings on the package, creates a bill of lading and more. 

However, this is NOT a substitute for the training requirement in 49CFR part 172.700 or the security plan part (HM-232).  Training is still required every 3 years for ground shipping and every 2 years for air and ocean shipping.  Also all new employees involved with the loading or unloading of hazardous materials must be trained within 30 days.  

There are other software programs that will help you ship hazardous materials such as UPS’s WorldShip, and others. If you go to the EZHAZMAT site you might also want to take the hazmat quiz and test your knowledge.

There have been a lot of inquiries into how to ship hazardous material and questioning whether you can ship it at all with today’s transportation laws. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Adminsitration heavily regulates the transportation of materials in the United States. Previously, we wrote about shipping hazardous by air with FedEx and/or UPS.

The specific regulations define hazardous materials and specify how to conduct practically every aspect of hazardous material shipping. The shipping of hazardous materials can pose a serious danger to anyone who might come in contact with the shipment. The inappropriate shipping of hazardous materials is a serious problem that can result in injury, loss of life, major fines, jail time, and damage to property. Therefore, it is critical that one carefully follow the rules so that any possible unsafe condition is minimized.

The D.O.T. can and does impose severe penalties for anyone who knowingly or unknowingly violates these regulations. Packages that contain hazardous materials need to be properly labeled for shipping and the label designates the type of hazard the material presents. Hazardous material items that are commonly shipped incorrectly are aerosol cans, cosmetics, perfumes, nail polish, lipsticks, alcohol, products containing alcohol such as cleaning products and even alcoholic beverages are considered dangerous. The following are the officially designated hazard categories:

o 1.1 - EXPLOSIVES 1.1
o 1.2 - EXPLOSIVES 1.2
o 1.3 - EXPLOSIVES 1.3
o 1.4 - EXPLOSIVES 1.4
o 1.5 - EXPLOSIVES 1.5
o 1.6 - EXPLOSIVES 1.6
o 2.1 - FLAMMABLE GAS
o 2.2 - NONFLAMMABLE GAS
o 2.3 - POISON GAS
o 3 - FLAMMABLE LIQUID
o 4.1 - FLAMMABLE SOLID
o 4.2 - SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTIBLE
o 4.3 - DANGEROUS WHEN WET
o 5.1 - OXIDIZER
o 5.2 - ORGANIC PEROXIDE
o 6.1 - POISON INHALATION HAZARD (zone A or B)
o 6.1 - POISON (other than inhalation hazard)
o 6.2 - INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCE
o 7 - RADIOACTIVE WHITE-I
o 7 - RADIOACTIVE YELLOW-II
o 7 - RADIOACTIVE YELLOW-III
o 7 - EMPTY (empty packages of radioactives)
o 8 - CORROSIVE
o 9 - CLASS 9

D.O.T. shipping labels are available for all of these categories. These shipping labels are 4″x 4″ and come on rolls of 500, have semi gloss face stock, permanent adhesive, and come on a 1″ inch core. They also have the ability to custom make these labels to have a special blank white region to write your own personal messages or instruction on. This region does not come on the stock labels. It has to be requested and it can be requested blank or with a message preprinted.

If your application calls for a little more durable label, there are several material solutions for you. They can offer several different films such as polyester, Kimdura, and polypropylene. These materials will withstand water, chemicals, UV rays, and other environmental factors that paper will not.

These special materials are not stock and would have to be custom made by most manufacturers. They would also have a 7-10 business day lead time. FedEx and UPS both offer shipping methods for hazardous material. They also offer guides that explain their rules and regulations for shipping these products.

Shipping hazardous material can be quick and easy as long as the appropriate steps are taken. Knowing how to ship hazardous material the correct way is important. Please pass this information to those that are interested in this topic.

The Compliance Resource Center offers on-site, function specific training for the shipping of hazardous materials (Hazmat 49 CFR, part 100-185) by ground, air and ocean.  The CR Center can also assist with hazardous materials audits, security plans, hazardous spill training and more. Contact us at info@thecrcenter.com or 847-298-3063.

I recently got a call from a small company whose UPS shipment was not acceptable because the company was not aware the shipment contained a hazardous material, and no one at the company had the correct hazmat training.   How could they get their products to their customers?  Everyone had to scramble to get them in compliance.  This is not an uncommon occurrence for companies and organizations.

Shipping hazardous materials by UPS and/or FEDEX must be done in accordance to US DOT federal regulations (49CFR part 100-185), ICAO (air), or IMDG (ocean).  Both UPS and FedEx will decline shipments if the business cannot show the carriers that their employees have been trained and follow all compliance concerns of US DOT & ICAO. 

First let me dispel a BIG misunderstanding.  IATA is NOT a regulatory agency.  IATA is the International Air Transportation ASSOCIATION.  They wrote a very good reference book with regards to air shipping, but are not a regulatory agency.  ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and the US DOT (49 CFR part 175) are the regulatory agencies for shipping hazardous materials by AIR.

If you are not sure if the material you are shipping is hazardous first look at an MSDS sheet, 2nd check out 49CFR part 172.101.  This is the DOT’s hazardous material table.  If your material is listed here then you MUST follow DOT compliance.  The table will also tell you if the material(s) can be transported by air.

It you have a question, use the comment box below and The Compliance Resource Center will answer you question.