These common mistakes when shipping hazardous materials can end up costing your business a lot of money.

Shipping hazardous materials have very little room for mistakes but very large consequences if done incorrectly. Mistakes when shipping hazmat materials can cause injury, damage to property, or endanger lives, so hazmat shipping should always be handled with tremendous caution.

Safe hazmat shipping is possible but requires diligence, communication, and attention to detail.

These are the most common mistakes companies make when shipping hazardous materials.

• FAILING TO LABEL AND DECLARE GOODS PROPERLY
• NOT ACCOUNTING FOR DIFFERENCES IN MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
• LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH SPECIFIC REGULATIONS FOR EACH SUBSTANCE
• ASSUMING GOODS AREN’T HAZARDOUS
• LETTING UNTRAINED EMPLOYEES HANDLE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
• NOT FOLLOWING EXACT INSTRUCTIONS FOR PACKAGING BY THE MANUFACTURER
• THINKING ANY MISTAKES WILL BE OVERLOOKED

DEFINITION OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS/DANGEROUS GOODS

First, let’s clarify what hazardous materials or dangerous goods are.

Many think of hazardous materials as things like explosives, gasoline, or acids. Yet, many common goods are hazardous when shipped, such as aerosol sprays, nail polish, alcohol, paint, dry ice, or cosmetics. Any substance or material that can pose a risk to health, safety, or property is a hazardous material or dangerous good.

SHIPPING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS VIOLATIONS

Hazmat safety regulations exist to keep people, property, and the environment safe. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) handle these regulations.

One reason you don’t want to make any hazardous shipping mistakes? Violations. Currently, hazmat regulation penalties are:

• Maximum civil penalty violation is $84,424 per day, per violation,
• Maximum civil penalty violation that results in death, serious illness, severe injury, or large destruction of property is $196,992 per day, per violation,
• Civil penalty for a violation of hazardous training is $508 per employee, per day.

HAZARDOUS SHIPPING MISTAKE EXAMPLES

Many companies have made hazardous shipping mistakes. Here are some true scenarios. 

Example 1: Online Retailer

Fined $91,000

An online retailer shipped a package by air containing flammable liquid adhesive. The motor carrier discovered the product leaking from its container. The online retailer offered the shipment, not including the required shipping papers or emergency response information. The freight’s packaging was incorrect and not marked or labeled as required. Nor were the company’s employees trained in handling hazmat packages for shipment by air.

Example 2: Chemical Company

Fined $325,000

On two separate occasions, a chemical company shipped undeclared hazardous material that is illegal to transport by air. The chemical company allegedly shipped pints of acrolein, which can become explosive when combined with air. Neither shipment had the required shipping papers or emergency response information. Additionally, one of the shipments was not marked, labeled, or packaged as required. Employee training was also found to be non-compliant.

Example 3: Flooring Company

Fined $63,000

A flooring company shipped a package of hazardous freight. The motor carrier found a package leaking. The flooring company did not provide the required shipping papers or emergency response information, nor did they mark, label, or package the shipment as required. Additionally, employees were not trained to handle hazardous materials.

COMMON HAZMAT SHIPPING MISTAKES

Failing to Label and Declare Goods Properly

Failing to label and declare hazardous goods is one of the most common shipping mistakes. Transparency is critical at every level to ship hazardous materials without mistakes.

All hazardous freight must have the proper UN hazmat labels or hazmat placards to identify their contents. Shippers must also disclose the information on the shipper’s declaration form.

Failing to properly mark, label, and declare your hazardous materials keeps employees from knowing what kind of materials they are handling, which hazard class they belong to, and what kind of precautionary measures they need to take. In the end, improper labeling and declaration can be an endangerment.

Not Accounting for Differences in Modes of Transportation

Regulations on certain hazardous goods and packaging methods can vary based on which mode they’re shipped with.

Take dry ice as an example. It has different regulations when shipped by ground than when by air. Another example is magnetized material. It’s only subjected to regulation restrictions when transported by air due to the interference it can cause to aircraft instruments.

That’s why it’s important to confirm the mode of transportation when shipping hazardous materials before packing, marking, labeling, and documenting everything. This way, you and your logistics provider know the exact shipping requirements needed.

Lack of Familiarity with Specific Regulations for Each Substance

The USDOT provides detailed tables of hazardous materials and their specific regulations for each classification. This includes specific information such as what packaging to use or transportation modes to ship. It’s your company’s responsibility to be knowledgeable and familiar with those regulations. Even still, ignorance of these regulations is a common mistake when shipping hazardous materials.

Assuming Goods Aren’t Hazardous

There are many materials that the average person wouldn’t think of as hazardous. Assuming goods aren’t hazardous materials when they are is a common mistake that happens when employees aren’t properly trained on hazmat and dangerous goods. As a result, they lack the required knowledge to differentiate what is and isn’t hazardous. This risks transporting hazardous material without being packaged, labeled, and communicated in the correct manner.

This mistake has the potential to cause catastrophic consequences depending on the product, the transportation mode, and several other factors. Ensure your employees are trained and when in doubt, don’t assume. Take the extra time to research the material if needed and follow hazardous protocol when applicable.

Some common items that are assumed to be non-hazardous are:

• Magnetized materials
• Lithium batteries
• Contaminated medical equipment
• Dry ice
• Aerosols
• Equipment with gas cartridges or compressed air
• Genetically modified organisms

Letting Untrained Employees Handle Hazardous Materials

What’s the easiest and most important way to avoid hazardous material shipping mistakes? Make sure your employees are trained in hazmat shipping.

Many of these mistakes happen due to untrained employees handling hazmat shipments. Therefore, employees need to undergo formal training and show competence under supervision before handling hazardous goods on their own. Additionally, employees should frequently be reeducated to stay keen on hazmat shipping requirements.

Not Following Exact Instructions for Packaging by the Manufacturer

Hazardous material packaging is designed to meet regulatory requirements. Many hazmat packaging manufacturers will include detailed instructions on how to use their packaging for safe and compliant shipping. It’s important that employees have access to these instructions and understand them completely.

Thinking Any Mistakes Will be Overlooked

It can be easy to think your business won’t get caught with a hazmat shipping violation. Yet, as noted by the examples above, it can and does happen. As the U.S. government remains vigilant in cracking down on hazmat shipping violations, fines continue to increase, making it even more financially smart to stay compliant. Not to mention that those violations can cause harm to the environment or people. No matter what, risking a hazmat shipping violation is never worth it.

AVOID HAZARDOUS SHIPPING MISTAKES WITH AN EXPERT

Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but when it comes to shipping hazardous materials, it’s crucial to do all you can to reduce them. Now that you know the most common mistakes when shipping hazmat, you can be more aware of avoiding them.

An easy way to help stay compliant when shipping hazardous materials is partnering with an expert knowledgeable in its regulations, like Trinity Logistics. We’ve been in the business of arranging hazardous shipments in several modes for over 40 years. We’ve also been Responsible Care certified since 2009.

If you’re looking for a reliable partner to help you with shipping your hazardous materials, consider Trinity Logistics. We can help take the guesswork out of keeping your hazmat shipments compliant.

The word “chemical” may sound a little scary. But it covers many different items, including some items in your kitchen or bathroom cabinets. When people talk about the challenges of chemical shipping, they’re often talking about materials that need special care. These might include materials that could explode, ignite, emit toxic gases, or cause serious harm if not handled in a safe manner.

There are many safety rules to keep hazardous chemicals from spilling or leaking. Anyone who transports or stores hazardous chemicals must understand how to handle those types of products. If a company or person violates certain rules, they may come face to face with civil and criminal penalties and thousands of dollars’ worth of fines. This chemical safety stuff is no joke! So, what could happen if chemicals aren’t stored and shipped properly?

What Could Happen

If rules and regulations for chemical storage and shipment aren’t upheld, a dangerous situation could occur. In February 2014, a facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico experienced an impactful issue.

An issue occurred at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility that was responsible for storing waste from the making of plutonium bombs. This operation was a result of a clean-up effort of old nuclear weapon manufacturing sites. A storage drum containing plutonium waste broke open because of improper packaging. This resulted in waste being sprayed into the air and 22 employees were exposed to small amounts of radiation.

The incident ended with the closure of the New Mexico repository. Investigation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory also occurred. This was where the plutonium waste was being packaged in a way that led to the occurrence.

Storing Chemicals

There are a lot of rules and regulations when it comes to storing chemical materials. One wrong thing and you could literally have an explosion on your hands. To protect the environment and people that work where hazardous materials are being stored and used, containment is important. This is to prevent contamination.

Regulations are created at the state and federal levels to help prevent incidents from happening while chemicals are being stored and moved across the country. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and other agencies all have specific requirements for handling chemicals.

Douglas Brown, of Brown Chemical Company in Oakland, NJ states that his company must interface with nine different agencies just to open the doors every day. Along with OSHA, DOT, and EPA, those agencies include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), and the FBI.

There are also safety steps companies enforce to prevent spills, leaks, and injuries. Some safety rules include forklift speed limits, passageway traffic rules, and safety training. Other safety measures could be:

• Implementing storage rules – Larger volumes of chemicals tend to be stored in drums, barrels or Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC), on racks or in large chemical storage units. Using signage to show the maximum volume a pallet or rack can hold will prevent collapsed areas and spills.
• A specialized storage system – It’s common for large warehouses to store products by alphabetizing, order of most used, or reference numbers. But these methods don’t work well when it comes to chemicals. That’s because there are several sets of chemicals that should never be near each other and could cause explosive reactions. If conflicting materials were to come into contact, fire, explosion, violent reactions or toxic gases could result.
• Inspections and emergency response plans – Companies should schedule regular, thorough visual inspections of storage areas to make sure no spills or leaks go unnoticed. This can lessen the possibility of employee health issues, damage to the building and other products, or worse. An emergency response plan should be in place in case a leak or spill happens.

Other typical storage considerations may include temperature, ignition control, ventilation, segregation, and identification. There are even special types of equipment that should be used in these environments. For example, EE-rated non-spark equipment prevent any spark from igniting a vapor or gas. In addition, special padding and static guard helps to ensure electrical equipment doesn’t set off accidents. All proper storage information is on Safety Data Sheets (SDS). An SDS must be on hand for every hazardous chemical in your workplace.

Shipping Chemicals

There are extra requirements that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and DOT track to make sure shippers are compliant when transporting chemical materials. In order for a carrier to haul a chemical load that contains hazardous materials, both the driver assigned to the truck must have a hazmat certificate on their CDL and the carrier must have a hazmat certificate registered with DOT. Before shipping chemicals, a best practice would be to vet common carriers to be sure they have the above requirements. Using a third-party logistics company like Trinity will give you peace of mind when trying to get this information.

Our Carrier Compliance Team monitors carrier certificates and ensures trucking companies and drivers adhere to these requirements before arranging a chemical load. This provides the best possible safety and lessens the risk for shippers.

Responsible Care® partnership is also something to consider when shipping chemical products. This is the chemical manufacturing industry’s environmental, health, safety, and security performance initiatives. Trinity is a proud Responsible Care® partner and is committed to following the program through endorsing their guiding principles; measuring and publicly reporting our performance on an annual basis; implementing the Responsible Care Product Safety Code, Process Safety Code and Security Code; implementing the Responsible Care Management System ® to achieve and verify results; and obtaining independent certification that a management system is in place and functions according to professional specifications.

Another thing to consider with chemical shipping is capacity. Capacity is already an issue because of the driver shortage. But in the chemical industry, shipments often involve regional trips. These long-distance hauls can be unattractive to drivers. Finding tanker trucks for bulk chemical shipments proves especially tough.

Using a third-party broker like Trinity Logistics, will help take the guess work out of shipping your chemical materials. 

Originally published August 16, 2018. Updated by Christine Griffith.