The removal of hazardous material is an important part of our society, as hazardous material can obviously prevent a threat to potentially many people if it is not adequately dealt with in a timely manner. However, many of us do not think about the requirements that go into getting your dot hazmat certification and OSHA hazmat training. A dot hazmat certification and OSHA hazmat training can prepare a person to properly and safely deal with hazardous material, as well as understand the more technical aspects, such as how to classify hazardous material and hazardous waste (for example, the Department of Transportation classifies hazardous cargo into nine different groups).
Shipping hazardous materials and shipping hazmat materials is more common than many people may think. In fact, out of the over ten billion tons of material that is shipped around the United States every year, 3 billion tons is classified as hazardous material. For those who play a role in the shipping of hazardous or hazmat material, a dot hazmat certification is often a requirement. The vast majority of shipments of hazardous or hazmat material – nearly 95% – is done via truck, and the truck drivers are usually required to have a dot hazmat certification.
There are a number of hazardous materials that are typically transported via truck, and those materials include an array of flammable liquids, though the primary flammable liquid that is transported around the United States is gasoline. Gasoline, alongside asphalt and Coca Cola, is one of the largest commodities shipped around the country at nearly 3,000 tons.
A dot hazmat certification and the OSHA hazmat training that comes with it typically requires a considerable time investment, usually around forty hours of training in total before obtaining certification. This training is required by OSHA, and those who participate in OSHA hazmat training are often required to also have a state specific license as well as the more general dot hazmat certification. Workers who handle hazardous materials usually make just over $40,000 in one year.
The shipping of hazardous materials is a job that requires a certain degree of skill and training as well as the proper certification. A dot hazmat certification is typically requires and is often added to by whatever certification is required by each individual state. We require the hazardous materials that are shipped, particularly when it comes to natural gas, and it’s thanks to those that handle them that we can live the way that we do. Hazardous materials help to make our lives as convenient as they are, but it is of course important that they are handled with the utmost care and responsibility.
