Instructor training aims to reduce hazmat shipping incidents

COLLEGE STATION – Hazardous Materials Instructor Training is now available at no cost in 12 states to help reduce transportation incidents involving undeclared hazardous materials. 

The training is offered by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) thanks to a $708,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The goal of the grant from DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is to enhance the safe transport of hazardous materials by highway, rail, water and air. During the next 12 months, TEEX plans to offer 48 classes in cities that are adjacent to major interstate shipping highways and trucking hubs.

The TEEX training will provide instructors with information to help them develop a systematic training program that ensures a hazmat employee has familiarity with the general provisions of the hazardous materials regulations, Also, the training will ensure an employee  is able to recognize and identify hazardous materials, has knowledge of specific requirements applicable to functions performed by the employee, and has knowledge of emergency response information, self-protection measures, and accident prevention methods and procedures. 

“It is vital that these materials be properly packaged, labeled and stowed for transportation or they could pose significant threats to transportation workers, carrier operators, emergency responders and the general public,” said Jeff Bowman, Environmental Training Manager with the TEEX Infrastructure Training and Safety Institute. The training will help companies meet their safety goals and reduce hazmat incidents caused by human error, he added.

This course will also assist 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.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration develops and enforces regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation’s 2.7 million mile pipeline transportation system and the nearly one million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea and air.

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 168,000 people from every U.S. state and territory and 82 countries worldwide. TEEX makes a difference by providing training, developing practical solutions, and saving lives.