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:

• 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.

HazMat Employer is defined in the HMR at 49 CFR 171.8:

Hazmat employer means:

(1) A person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee on a full-time, part time, or temporary basis; and who:

(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;

(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or

(iii) 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;

(2) A person who is self-employed (including an owner-operator of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft) transporting materials in commerce; and who:

(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;

(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or

(iii) 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; or

(3) A department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, or an authority of a State, political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe; and who:

(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;

(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or

(iii) 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.

This seems like a lot, but if you look close you’ll notice that the three sub-paragraphs (roman numerals i-iii) of each paragraph (1, 2, & 3) are the same.  In other words, the activities of a HazMat Employer are the same even though the form of the Hazmat Employer may differ.  The three possible forms of HazMat Employers identified are:

1. A person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee on a full-time, part time, or temporary basis.
2. A person who is self-employed transporting hazardous materials in commerce.
3. A branch of government (Federal, state, & local), including the military.

So, it is possible that any person, business, or form of government within the U.S. could be identified as a HazMat Employer if they engage in any of the following prescribed activities:

  i.  Transport a hazardous material in commerce.

 ii.  Cause a hazardous material to be transported in commerce.

iii.  Have anything to do with the construction of packaging used for the transportation of a hazardous material.

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The first identified activity (i) of a HazMat Employer addresses a Carrier of HazMat in commerce, while the third (iii) is limited to those involved in the manufacture of HazMat packaging.  It is the second of the three activities (ii) that results in such a broad scope to the definition of a HazMat Employer.  So broad, frankly, that it comes as a surprise to many EHS Professionals and Shipping and Receiving Mangers that should know better.  “Cause a hazardous material to be transported in commerce.” means that any action that results in the transportation of a hazardous material in commerce identifies a business/person/government as a HazMat Employer.  This could include any of the following activities if they involve hazardous materials:

• Placing an order to have a hazardous material delivered to your facility.
• Performing freight forwarder function.
• Coordinating the transportation of hazardous material.
• Performing consulting services for a customer.
• Arranging for the off-site transportation of a hazardous material.
• Contracting with a hauler to remove hazardous waste from an LQG or SQG.
• And more…

One final condition of a HazMat Employer is the relationship between themselves and the HazMat Employee.  In short, it is not necessary for a HazMat Employee to be “employed” by the HazMat Employer; at least, not in the sense of the usual meaning of “employed”.  Confused?  Read on.

In paragraph 1 we read that the traditional relationship of HazMat Employer and HazMat Employee applies:  “A person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee on a full-time, part time, or temporary basis…”

The HazMat Employer description in paragraph 2 covers self-employed persons (Hey! That’s me.) who don’t employ anyone but themselves perform an activity prescribed in sub-paragraphs i, ii, or iii.

And finally, paragraph 3 addresses a unit of government, such as the U.S military, that performs a prescribed activity (sub-paragraphs i, ii, & iii) but does not use an “employee” to do it.

While a deeper look at the defined term HazMat Employee will have to wait for a later article, I can say with confidence that if you represent a business or branch of government that is in any way engaged in the transportation of a hazardous material, it is likely that you have at least one HazMat Employee working for you.

Daniels Training Services 815.821.1550/Info@DanielsTraining.com/https://www.danielstraining.com/

If after reading this article you suspect you may be a HazMat Employer and wish to know what comes next.  Or, if you want to know more about some of the terms used in this article (eg. HazMat Employee, Hazardous Material) don’t hesitate to contact me for a free consultation.