Hazmat Training: What Employees Need to Know

The first thing hazmat employees need to know is how to recognize and identify hazardous materials and specific hazards. To do this they have to:

• 
  Read container labels


• Check DOT labels and placards


• Consult Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs)

Hazmat employees also need to understand and review the information in shipping documents. These documents provide vital safety information such as:

• 
  Proper shipping name


• Hazard class


• Identification number


• Packaging group

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All the safety training you need in one program: 25 subjects, one low price. It’s BLR’s Safety Training Presentations. Try it at no cost. Get the details.

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Hazard Classes

Employees also need to know the hazard classes of the materials they handle.

• 
  Hazard class 1—Explosives (ammunition, cartridges, detonators, black powder, fireworks, primer caps, rockets, grenades, and igniters)


• Hazard class 2—Gases (flammable, nonflammable, and poisonous)


• Hazard class 3—Flammable or combustible liquids (for example, gasoline, oil, and acetone)


• Hazard class 4—Flammable solids (such as nitrocellulose, phosphorous, and dangerous-when-wet solids like sodium and calcium)


• Hazard class 5—Oxidizers and organic peroxide (which enhance combustion of other materials)


• Hazard class 6—Poisons (such as arsenic, cyanide, and pesticides)


• Hazard class 7—Radioactive materials


• Hazard class 8—Corrosive materials (acids, caustics, and other materials that can eat through metals and destroy human tissue)


• Hazard class 9—Miscellaneous dangerous materials (for example, asbestos, dry ice, and mixed hazardous wastes)

Packaging Groups

Knowing how to identify packaging groups, which are assigned according to shipping name and hazard class and indicate the degree of danger the material presents, is also essential.

• 
  Packaging group I indicates great danger


• Packaging group II indicates medium danger


• Packaging group III indicates minor danger

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Hazmat Training for Your Employees

Of course, there’s a lot more hazmat employees need to know about working safely, and they’ll learn it quickly and easily with Safety Training Presentations‘ PowerPoint® sessions.

The Hazardous Materials Transportation session is just 1 of 25 core safety presentations, each one responsive to either an OSHA training requirement or to common causes of workplace accidents, injuries, or illness. All are customizable, so you can add your specific hazards or safety policies.

Each lesson also includes completion certificates, sign-in sheets, evaluation forms, and training records. In short, it contains everything you need to motivate, reinforce, retain, and transfer new knowledge—and document that you did so.

Safety Training Presentation topics covered include:

—Bloodborne Pathogens
—Back Safety
—Emergency Action
—Ergonomics
—Fire Prevention
—PPE
—Welding/Cutting/Brazing
—Portable Power Tool Safety
—Scaffolds
—Lockout/Tagout
—Forklift Operator Safety
—Confined Space Safety
—Fall Protection
—Respiratory Protection
—and more!

Of course, training needs change as OSHA introduces new requirements or as new work practices and technologies bring new hazards. To cover this, you receive a new CD every 90 days you’re in the program, each containing five additional or updated topics.

Just as important for those on a budget (and who isn’t these days?), the cost of these presentations works out to under $20 for each.

We’ve arranged for Advisor subscribers to get a no-cost, no-obligation look at Safety Training Presentations for 30 days. Feel free to try a few lessons with your own trainees. Please let us know, and we’ll be glad to set it up.

 
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