According to the federal government’s laws, anybody who comes into contact with any hazardous materials must undergo haz mat training. According to the federal government, a haz mat employer is anybody who has any employees, even if it is just one, working with any kind of hazardous material. Working with hazardous materials includes transporting the material or even simply ordering the hazardous material to be shipped. This also includes people who package the hazardous materials being shipped, which covers testing, repairing, modifying, reconditioning, selling, offering, or even representing the packaging materials being used. The definition of haz mat employer also includes any department or agency of the United States, along with any States or a political subdivision of the individual state.

An employee under the laws of the federal government is anybody who is employed by an employer that handles any kind of hazardous materials, but the employee definition also includes any person who is self-employed. Employees who transport, which includes loading or unloading hazardous materials must undergo haz mat training. Employees who prepare the materials for shipping or deal with the packaging materials in anyway also must undergo this intense training. Employees in charge of operating any vehicles that are used to move hazardous materials, including forklifts, or anybody who is responsible for the safety of the hazardous materials during their transportation are also included in the definition as set forth by the federal government.

A big misconception that employers often have is that if they don’t come into contact with the hazardous materials during the course of their day that they don’t need training, especially continued training. Nothing could actually be further from the truth, employers need the same type of training that employees must have, including any continued training. Even though the federal government doesn’t offer the haz mat training they do have laws set forth that define the training. According to the federal government haz mat training is a systematic program that gives haz mat employers and employees the information they need to safely handle any hazardous materials, which part of that information are the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The proper training will also give employers and employees the information that they need to perform any haz mat functions correctly.

According to the regulations set forth by the federal government, any haz mat training program must use a consistent approach to teach the employees and employers everything that they need to know about the procedures for safely handling hazardous materials, along with the regulations put in place to ensure they are safely handled. The haz mat training must also include some kind of testing so the employers and employees can demonstrate they understand how to safely handle these materials, but most importantly all aspects of the training must be documented.