Domain II: Shipping and Transporting Hazardous Waste/Materials

Question 1

According to the DOT, who is a “Hazmat Employee”?

Answer 1

A “Hazmat Employee” is anyone who directly affects the transportation of hazardous materials.

If employees at your facility perform any of the following functions, the DOT considers them to be “hazmat employees” [49 CFR 171.1]:

Determining the hazard class of a material, assigning a packing group, filling out shipping papers or providing placards to a transporter

Selecting hazmat packaging

Packaging materials into bulk or non-bulk packaging

Securing closures on a hazardous materials package or container

Adding labels or markings to a container to indicate that it contains a hazardous material

Selecting a mode of transportation

Loading, blocking or bracing hazmat packaging into a freight container or transport vehicle

Question 2

What training do “Hazmat Employees” need?

Answer 2

The amount of training required depends on the employee’s actual level of involvement, but at a minimum, all hazmat employees must receive a general awareness training to help them become familiar with hazardous material transportation requirements and be able to identify hazardous materials being prepared for transportation [40 CFR 172.704]. Hazmat employees may also need:

Function-specific training covers regulations pertaining to specific job functions.
Safety training discusses how the employee will be protected from hazards. The emergency response information in 49 CFR 172.600 must also be covered as part of safety training.
Security awareness training provides an awareness of risks associated with transporting hazardous materials. This training is required within 90 days of employment or assignment and Methods for recognizing and responding to possible security threats must also be discussed.
In-depth security training teaches employees about company security objectives, specific security procedures, employee responsibilities, actions to take in the event of a security breach, and the organizational security structure.

Training must occur before employees are assigned to any task that affects a hazardous materials shipment, and refresher trainings must occur at least once every three years, or when applicable regulations change.

Question 3

What is the Hazardous Materials Table (HMT)?

Answer 3

Found in 49 CFR 172.101

The HMT provides the shipper with the information needed to properly ship hazardous materials.

Question 4

What is in Column 1 on the HMT?

Answer 4

Symbols

Can contain 6 symbols

(+)
This symbol fixes the shipping name, packing group, and hazard class

A
denotes a material that is subject to the requirements of this subchapter only when offered or intended for transportation by aircraft, unless the material is a hazardous substance or a hazardous waste

D
identifies proper shipping names which are appropriate for describing materials for domestic transportation but may be inappropriate for international transportation under the provisions of international regulations

G
identifies proper shipping names for which one or more technical names of the hazardous material must be entered in parentheses

I
identifies proper shipping names which are appropriate for describing materials in international transportation

W
denotes a material that is subject to the requirements of this subchapter only when offered or intended for transportation by vessel, unless the material is a hazardous substance or a hazardous waste

Question 5

What is in Column 2 on the HMT?

Answer 5

Hazardous materials descriptions and proper shipping names

Question 6

What is in Column 3 on the HMT?

Answer 6

Hazard Class or Division

Question 7

What is in Column 4 on the HMT?

Answer 7

Identification Number

The DOT ID number is a 4digit number assigned to a commodity or group of commodities. If the material is approved for domestic shipment only it will have a “NA” in front of the number. Otherwise it will have a “UN”.

Question 8

What is in Column 5 on the HMT?

Answer 8

Packing Group

Packing groups are identified as I, II, and III.

Number I represents high danger while numbers II and III represent medium and low danger respectively.

The packing group of a material determined its proper packaging for transportation.

Question 9

What is in Column 6 on the HMT?

Answer 9

Labels

Column 6 specifies codes which represent the hazard warning labels required for a package filled with a material conforming to the associated hazard class and proper shipping name

Question 10

What is in Column 7 of the HMT?

Answer 10

Special provisions

Column 7 specifies codes for special provisions applicable to hazardous materials. When Column 7 refers to a special provision for a hazardous material, the meaning and requirements of that special provision are as set forth in § 172.102 of this subpart.

Question 11

What is in Column 8 of the HMT?

Answer 11

Packaging Authorizations

Columns 8A, 8B and 8C specify the applicable sections for exceptions, non-bulk packaging requirements and bulk packaging requirements, respectively

Question 12

What is in Column 9 of the HMT?

Answer 12

Quantity Limitations

Columns 9A and 9B specify the maximum quantities that may be offered for transportation in one package by passenger-carrying aircraft or passenger-carrying rail car (Column 9A) or by cargo aircraft only (Column 9B)

If the word forbidden appears it means it is not allowed on that type of transportation.

Question 13

What is in Column 10 of the HMT?

Answer 13

Vessel Stowage Requirements

Column 10A [Vessel stowage] specifies the authorized stowage locations on board cargo and passenger vessels. Column 10B [Other provisions] specifies codes for stowage and handling requirements for specific hazardous materials.

Question 14

What is the DOT?

Answer 14

Department of Transportation

The goal of the DOT is to make transportation of hazardous materials safe and without incident.

Question 15

DOT regulations have been divided among:

Answer 15

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Federal motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

Question 16

What is the DOTs HCS?

Answer 16

Hazard Communication System

Requires that each shipment of hazardous materials have a shipping invoice, labels or placards, and proper packaging to prevent release

Question 17

What is required on shipping papers for transportation of hazardous materials?

Answer 17

Proper Shipping Name

Hazard Class and division

DOT identification number

Packing group (if applicable)

total volume or weight

information of emergency response

shipper certification (if applicable)

Question 18

What are the requirements for marking packages of hazardous materials?

Answer 18

Marking must include tge Proper Shipping Name (PSN), as well as DOT Identification number and the hazard class.

Package marking requirements depend on a number of factors such as the nature of hazards involved, type of packaging use for transportation, the size of package, and whether the packaging is bulk or non-bulk.

Question 19

What are the placarding requirements for hazardous materials?

Answer 19

Labels and placards use alot of the same symbols and colors but placards are considerable larger.

Labels are generally 100mm x 100mm and placards are 250mm x 250mm.

Placards are used on the vehicle transporting hazardous material while labels are used on drums, cylinders, bottles, and packages of hazardous materials.

According to the DOT regulations, every vehicle transporting a reportable quantity of hazardous material must display a placard on each end and each side and the placard must be clearly visible.

Question 20

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 1 and what are its divisions?

Answer 20

Class 1 - Explosives

Division 1.1
Explosives which have a mass explosion hazard

Division 1.2
Explosives which have a projection hazard but not a mass explosion hazard

Division 1.3
Explosives which have a fire hazard and either a minor blast hazard or a minor projection hazard or both, but not a mass explosion hazard

Division 1.4
Explosives which present no significant blast hazard

Division 1.5
Very insensitive explosives with a mass explosion hazard

Division 1.6
Extremely insensitive articles which do not have a mass explosion hazard

Question 21

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 2 and what are its divisions?

Answer 21

Class 2 - Gasses

Division 2.1
Flammable gases

Division 2.2
Non-flammable, non-toxic* gases

Division 2.3
Toxic* gases

Question 22

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 3?

Answer 22

Class 3 - Flammable liquids (and Combustible liquids [U.S.])

Question 23

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 4 and what are its divisions?

Answer 23

Class 4 - Flammable solids; Substances liable to spontaneous combustion; Substances which, on contact with water, emit flammable gases

Division 4.1
Flammable solids, self-reactive substances and solid desensitized explosives

Division 4.2
Substances liable to spontaneous combustion

Division 4.3
Substances which in contact with water emit flammable gases

Question 24

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 5 and what are its divisions?

Answer 24

Class 5 - Oxidizing substances and Organic peroxides

Division 5.1 Oxidizing substances

Division 5.2 Organic peroxides

Question 25

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 6 and what are its divisions?

Answer 25

Class 6 - Toxic* substances and Infectious substances

Division 6.1 Toxic* substances

Division 6.2 Infectious substances

Question 26

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 7?

Answer 26

Class 7 - Radioactive materials

Question 27

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 8?

Answer 27

Class 8 - Corrosive Substances

Question 28

Under the DOT Hazard Classification System, what hazard is Class 9?

Answer 28

Class 9 - Miscellaneous dangerous goods/hazardous materials and articles

Question 29

What does a red placard indicate?

Answer 29

Red placards indicate the material is flammable

Question 30

What does a green placard indicate?

Answer 30

A green placard indicates the material is non-flammable

Question 31

What does a yellow placard indicate?

Answer 31

A yellow placard indicates the material is an oxidizer

Question 32

What does a blue placard indicate?

Answer 32

A blue placard indicates that the material is dangerous when wet

Question 33

What does a white placard indicate?

Answer 33

A white placard indicates the material is an inhalation hazard and/or a poison

Question 34

What does a white and black placard indicate?

Answer 34

A black and white placard indicates the material is corrosive

Question 35

What does a red and white placard indicate?

Answer 35

Half red and half white means the substance might ignite when exposed to air.

Red with white stripes means flammable solids.

Question 36

What does a red and yellow placard indicate?

Answer 36

Red and yellow indicate organic peroxides which have the potential to ignite or explode

Question 37

What does a yellow and white placard indicate?

Answer 37

Yellow and white represent radioactive substances that are often found in medical equipment

Question 38

What does a white and black placard indicate?

Answer 38

Half white and half black indicate a corrosive material.

White with black stripes indicates miscellaneous dangerous goods.

Question 39

What does an orange placard indicate?

Answer 39

Orange represents explosive materials

Question 40

What is ORM-D?

Answer 40

Stand for other regulated materials - domestic

It is an old way of labeling consumer commodities and has now been phased out.