hazardous materials transportation safety

Most state and federal regulations related to the transportation of hazardous materials were first established in 1975 with the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. The Act broadly defines hazardous materials as anything that “may pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property,” (OSHA, 2017). In practice, hazardous materials generally include explosives, hazardous waste, gasses, radioactive material, flammable or combustible materials, and harmful chemicals. However, each state would have its own regulations, which sometimes conflicted with neighboring states or federal regulations.

Further complicating the issues related to safe transport of hazardous materials was the fact that a large number of federal, state, and local agencies would have different jurisdictions and subject to different regulations or laws, such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railway Administration (FRA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2017).

In 1990, Congress passed the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act (HMTUSA) to clarify and standardize regulations related to the safe transport of hazardous materials. Moreover, recent regulations are designed to harmonize with international standards “in order to facilitate foreign trade and maintain the competitiveness of U.S. goods,” (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 2017). Military shipments of hazardous materials are generally exempt from state and federal regulations; otherwise, all commercial shipments are subject to federal laws related to occupational safety and the HMTUSA.

In general though, federal law ultimately requires that every driver carrying hazardous materials must be made aware of their role and must have received proper training and certification within the state issuing their commercial drivers’ license. In fact, all hazardous material must be “properly classed, described, packaged, marked, labeled, and in condition for shipment as required or authorized,” (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2017).

Thus, in addition to a commercial drivers’ license (CDL), “federal and state laws require a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) endorsement on your CDL before you can legally transport hazardous material,” (“HAZMAT Endorsement,” 2017). Because of the legal requirements to label and license drivers transporting hazardous materials, it is impossible for a driver to legally remain unaware of the contents of the shipment. Different licensing and certification processes continue to complicate matters related to hazardous materials transport, though.

In addition to different processes of acquiring both the CDL and the HAZMAT endorsements within each state, each commercial driver must also pass a TSA security assessment—essentially a type of criminal background check (“HAZMAT Endorsement,” 2017). The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) covers issues more directly related to employer and driver responsibilities in keeping the material safe during transport and also responding to emergency situations.

All employers are subject to OSHA requirements for creating safe workplaces, which means not only properly training HAZMAT drivers but also ensuring that the transport containers, conditions, logistics, and methods prevent accidents. Transportation conditions and emergency response protocols will be different depending on the material being carried. Regulations have promoted promising safety records, with total fatalities due to hazardous materials transport down from 27 in 1975 to just 9 in 2016 (United States Department of Transportation, 2017). However, non-fatal incidents resulting from transportation of hazardous materials remain relatively high. According to the U.S.

Department of Transportation, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and the Office of Hazardous Material Safety, thousands of incidents occur per year, about 3500 during transit, over 400 in transit storage, almost 3000 during loading, and more than 6000 during unloading (“Yearly Incident Summary Reports,” 2017). Unloading is by far the most dangerous stage of the transportation process, indicating a greater need for safety regulations and employee training. The staff unloading the shipment needs to be equally as responsible as the staff shipping the material.

Financial costs of the incidents are upwards of $60 million per year (“Yearly Incident Summary Reports,” 2017). However, no federal or state agency maintains specific statistics related to whether drivers who were unaware of the contents of their payload caused these incidents. State and federal regulations are strict, requiring all commercial drivers to receive special training in hazardous materials transport. The training may vary depending on the type of material being transported, to ensure proper procedures and emergency response.

For example, training for handlingn explosives may be different from the training in handling toxic gases. To improve safety outcomes, each state may have additional requirements. The driver is not the only person responsible for knowledge regarding safe transport of hazardous material. Federal laws also cover the entire workplace and supply chain, requiring appropriate packaging and labeling, storage conditions and handling protocols, and informing employees about the obligation—and right—to refuse to handle material that has been compromised during transport or shipping such as leakages. The law.