Shipping Hazardous Materials

Safety Instruction Number:

Last Update:

Tue, 09/04/2007

Are you shipping hazardous materials? - presentation

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has detailed regulations related to the shipment of hazardous materials
Stiff penalties can result from failure to abide by the regulations
It is crucial to properly package and ship hazardous materials and to provide adequate training for responsible personnel
DOT has established rules which require training employees ("hazmat employees") involved with shipment of hazardous materials in commerce
All hazmat employees are to be trained in relation to the specific transportation-related function they perform

For assistance with proper shipment of hazardous materials contact
- EH&S - phone 7-2273 - email

At OSU, "hazmat" employees either coordinate, at a department level, the overall shipment of hazardous materials or they perform specific tasks directly related to shipments
The hazmat employees who coordinate shipments are generally those which department personnel approach to have all materials mailed or shipped
These hazmat employees need to have basic knowledge of the existence of the DOT hazardous material shipping regulations in order to recognize when they might apply
This safety bulletin is one aspect of that general awareness training
Hazmat employees who perform more specific transportation-related tasks associated with hazardous material need more elaborate training. These tasks include:
- Packaging (or choosing correct packaging)
- Labeling & marking packages
- Preparing shipping papers
- Loading or unloading commercial trucks

For the main Corvallis campus, the off-site shipment of hazardous materials should be performed through only three locations:
- Mailing Services will coordinate shipments for hazardous materials which can be shipped via commercial package carriers
- Central Receiving will assist with freight shipments--hazardous materials not acceptable through package carriers
- EHS-Radiation Safety is responsible for coordinating radioactive material shipments, which must be shipped from the Radiation Center
In each case, the respective group will help with selecting the correct packaging and assist with package marking, labels, and preparing appropriate shipping papers

The DOT regulations stipulate
- how a hazardous material is packaged (e.g., cardboard box, metal drum);
- how the package is marked--what words are written on the side;
- how the package is labeled--what colored diamond-shaped label is applied;
- how the material is described on shipping papers, which are required for shipment.
This information is summarized in a table in one section of the DOT regulations
Each hazardous material, or collection of materials, must be located on the table, and the respective specific requirements followed
It is therefore important to get proper information prior to preparing a package for shipment
If the wrong type of package is used, it will have to be packaged again.