TEEX receives DOT grant to offer Hazardous Materials Instructor Training

COLLEGE STATION – The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) a half-million dollar grant to provide instructor training to reduce shipping incidents involving undeclared hazardous materials. The goal is to protect the health and safety of employees and carrier operators, as well as to protect public health and welfare.

TEEX was one of six organizations nationwide to receive funding for hazmat instructor training from the U.S. DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

“These grants are part of our comprehensive approach to improving the safe transportation of hazardous material by highway, rail, water, and air,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx in the announcement.

“When these materials are not properly packaged, labeled and stowed for transportation, they can pose significant threats to transportation workers, emergency responders and the general public,” said Jeff Bowman, TEEX Environmental Training Manager and project director. Training will promote safe handling of material while it is being loaded, transported and offloaded

TEEX will develop and provide a four-day course, Hazardous Materials Instructor Training, to help companies meet their safety goals and reduce hazmat incidents caused by human error. The TEEX train-the-trainer program will focus on understanding the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and recognizing and identifying hazardous materials that are to be shipped.

This course will also assist hazmat employers in developing a systematic program that ensures employees can recognize and identify hazardous materials and are knowledgeable of emergency response information, self-protection measures, and accident prevention methods and procedures, Bowman said.

More than 90% of the companies surveyed by TEEX reported shipping hazardous materials by ground transportation and indicated an interest in this training.

Through the grant, TEEX has proposed delivery of 37 classes at no cost in 18 cities across nine states that are adjacent to major interstate shipping highways and trucking hubs.

About the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration develops and enforces regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation’s 2.6 million mile pipeline transportation system and the nearly one million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air.

About the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service

TEEX is an internationally recognized leader in the delivery of emergency response, homeland security and workforce training and exercises, technical assistance, and economic development. Last year, TEEX served more than 173,000 people from every U.S. state and territory and 81 countries worldwide. TEEX makes a difference by providing training, developing practical solutions, and saving lives.