HazMat Employer

Who is a HazMat Employer?

The safe transportation of a hazardous material, which includes the time it is loaded or unloaded from a vehicle on your property, requires knowledge of the Hazardous Material Regulations of the PHMSA/USDOT.  This knowledge can come from a variety of sources, but only one is required by the very regulations themselves:  TRAINING.  49 CFR 171.702(a) mandates a HazMat Employer to ensure that each of its HazMat Empoyees is trained and tested according to §172, Subpart H; this means:

49 CFR 172, Subpart H requires training for all HazMat Employees

Are you the HazMat Employer who rented this truck?

  • Initial training within 90 days of employment or applicable activities.
  • Supervised by trained and knowledgeable personnel prior to receiving training.
  • Full recurrent training within three years.
  • Prescribed HazMat Employee training content:
    • General Awareness/Familiarization
    • Function Specific
    • Safety/Emergency Response
    • Security General Awareness
    • In-Depth Security (if applicable)
  • HazMat Employees must be tested.

A later article will look more closely at the identification of a HazMat Employee.  Since all of this is the responsibility of the HazMat Employer, it is imperative that this term is understood first. (more…)

Manufacturers of Hazardous Material Packaging & HazMat Employee Training

The regulations of the US DOT that mandate training of HazMat Employees can be found at 49 CFR 172, Subpart H.  According to §172.702(a), “A HazMat Employer shall ensure that each of its HazMat Employees is trained in accordance with the requirements prescribed in this subpart.”  The full definition of a HazMat Employer can be found at §171.8 and can be summarized as follows:

  • A person who employees at least one HazMat Employee as defined at §171.8; or,
  • A person who is self-employed transporting materials in commerce; or,
  • A department or agency of any Federal or State government or Indian tribe.

WHO…

  • Transports a hazardous material in commerce;
  • Causes a hazardous material to be transported in commerce; or,
  • “Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests a package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person as qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce.”

It is this last category of HazMat Employer that is often overlooked or misunderstood, and so requires further explanation.  Based on this definition a HazMat Employer includes…

Someone whose business has anything to do, “designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests…” for any type of packaging, “…a package, container, or packaging component…” that it indicates, “…represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person…” is suitable for the transportation of hazardous materials, “…as qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce.”

If this is you, then you are a HazMat Employer.  As a HazMat Employer you are required to ensure that each of your HazMat Employees are trained and tested.  HazMat Employee training must include:

  • General Awareness/Familiarization
  • Function Specific Responsibilities
  • Safety/Emergency Response
  • Security General Awareness
  • In-Depth Security (if applicable)

However, pursuant to §172.704(e)(1), a HazMat Employee who is only involved in the manufacture of HazMat packagings and does not perform any other regulated function, such as handling hazardous materials in transportation, does not require Safety/Emergency Response training.

Whether you ship or receive hazardous materials, transport hazardous materials, or manufacture hazardous material packaging, you must provide HazMat Employee training every three years.  Contact me to provide the required training at a time and place of your choosing and at a price you can afford.

What is a HazMat Employee?

A HazMat Employee is a term used by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), one of several Administrations and Bureaus within the US Department of Transportation, to refer to any person involved in the transportation of hazardous materials in commerce.  A complete understanding of this term is necessary in order to comply with the PHMSA mandate to train all HazMat Employees.  The purpose of this article is to assist you in properly identifying your HazMat Employees so you can take the next step and ensure the required training is completed.

Before we begin to identify a HazMat Employee, I must differentiate this term from a similar sounding one used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  OSHA has its Hazardous Waste Operations – or HAZWOPER – regulations at 29 CFR 1910.120.  HAZWOPER addresses clean-up and corrective actions at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites or hazardous waste operations at Treatment Storage and Disposal facilities.  Training required by HAZWOPER regulations is sometimes referred to as:  HazMat Awareness, Hazardous Material Training, etc.  This is separate and distinct from the hazardous material transportation regulations of the PHMSA/DOT.

It is also necessary to understand two other terms from the regulations before we can understand the definition of a HazMat Employee.  Defined at 49 CFR 171.8, these two are:

“A HazMat Employer is someone who employs at least one HazMat Employee and transports or offers for transport a hazardous material in commerce.”

“A Hazardous Material is anything the DOT has determined may pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.”  It includes many common materials, such as:  solvents, paints, cleaners, degreasers, resins, corrosive acids and bases, and more.

A full definition of a HazMat Employee can also be found at 49 CFR 171.8.  It includes the self-employed and those employed by others as full-time, part time, or temporary workers; anyone who in the course of doing their job directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety.  It also includes persons who:

  • “Load, unload, or handle hazardous materials” – anyone involved in the transfer of a hazardous material from or to its means of transportation.  The transportation could be by air, vessel, rail, or highway.
  • “Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce.” – This includes the reconditioning of containers for reuse as hazardous material packaging.
  • “Prepares hazardous materials for transportation.” – A wide range of pre-transportation activities may be completed by HazMat Employees long before a hazardous material begins transportation.  This might include selecting hazardous materials packaging and inspecting, labeling, or marking the packaging.  It also includes persons who prepares, reviews and/or signs a shipping paper like the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest.
  • “Is responsible for safety of transporting hazardous materials.” – EHS Managers, Shipping and Receiving Supervisors, Dispatchers, Route Coordinators, persons who may never see a hazardous material, but are responsible for persons who do are HazMat Employees as well.
  • “Operates a vehicle used to transport hazardous materials.” – Operators of a vehicle over a public roadway transporting hazardous materials (unless excepted from regulation) are HazMat Employees.  This does not include the transfer of a hazardous material across a public roadway if the road divides a single property.
Additional guidance on identifying your HazMat Employees can be found in a PHMSA document:  What you Should Know: A Guide to Developing a Hazardous Materials Training Program.
It has been my experience that many HazMat Employers are not aware of the complete definition of a HazMat Employee and thus fail to identify the entirety of their requirements under the Hazardous Material Regulations.  One of these requirements is to train your HazMat Employees with 90 day of hire and triennially (every three years) thereafter per 49 CFR 172.704(c).  I provide  HazMat Employee training and am willing to discuss your training needs with you at any time.