Table of Contents
- General Awareness and Familiarization Training
- Function-Specific Training
- Safety Training
- Security Awareness Training
- In-Depth Security Training
- Achieve Your Training Goals With Hazmat School
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) requires every person working with hazardous materials to undergo rigorous training under its 49 CFR § 172.704 regulation. Hazmat training for your employees should occur within 90 days of employment and once every three years after that. This instruction must take place under the supervision of a trained and qualified hazmat professional. As an employer, you must organize and record this training to adhere to PHMSA’s guidelines.
Keep in mind that your training must cover the following criteria.
1. General Awareness and Familiarization Training
The first step to training is providing employees with a solid foundation of basic hazardous material information. This dedicated instruction will teach them how to recognize and identify various hazardous materials. It should also deliver high-quality information regarding Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) as well as information in the following areas:
- Hazard classification system
- Hazardous materials table
- Training requirements
2. Function-Specific Training
Your workers are responsible for various tasks around your facility or job site. Function-specific training is required to give these specialized employees the knowledge and skills required to complete their assigned tasks safely and by various regulations. Training will differ based on the role of the trainee.
A few examples of function-specific training topics include:
- Completion of shipping papers
- Loading and unloading packages
- Preparation of packages for shipment
- Reporting an incident
- Load segregation
- Marking and labeling
3. Safety Training
Arming your employees with reliable safety information is wise to decrease the risk of accidents on the job. This training should cover all safety concerns pertaining to your working environment. The ideal program will cover practical safety procedures, proper material handling techniques and exposure protection strategies. Workers should also deeply understand your emergency response procedures to successfully deal with releases or accidents.
4. Security Awareness Training
Awareness training should happen within three months of employment, alerting new employees to the security risks associated when transporting hazardous materials. Instruction must also provide detailed strategies on how to enhance transportation security as well as how to identify and respond to possible security threats.
5. In-Depth Security Training
The final component of your hazmat training should be instruction related to your organization’s security plan. Employees who are designated to handle hazardous materials, perform regulated functions or are responsible for putting the security plan into action are the only ones required to receive training. These individuals will receive training on the following topics:
- Company security structure
- Security objectives
- Specific security procedures
- Employee responsibilities during a security breach
- General tasks and duties
Achieve Your Training Goals With Hazmat School
Hazmat School is your source for high-quality online training courses to give your employees the information they need to succeed as hazmat specialists. We train more than 20,000 students on OSHA, DOT and EPA standards each year, working hard to deliver practical learning experiences.
Check out our comprehensive selection of online hazmat training courses leading to certification and contact our team to learn more today!
Manages Hazmat School’s E-Learning courses and blog. Kirstie has extensive experience in the online training and education industry. Kirstie has worked with courses that offer a variety of safety and environmental certifications that satisfy OSHA, EPA and DOT requirements.
