Regulations mandate that hazmat employees—i.e., people who directly handle or supervise shipments of Dangerous Goods—be trained to perform their specific functions. To comply with these regulations, you may already participate in training sessions, or be taking one or more online hazmat training courses.

That training is mandatory. But what about hazmat training that isn’t mandatory? Why would you pursue Dangerous Goods training beyond what’s legally required?

One good reason: Hazmat training can give you a major career boost.

Here are four ways non-essential Dangerous Goods training—training beyond what’s legally required—can help you win a new job, make you better at your current job, or climb the ranks in your organization.

How has hazmat training helped advance your career? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Hazmat training makes you eligible for more jobs.

A friend of ours recently made a sharp career detour, leaving office jobs behind for life as a long-haul trucker. He quickly learned he’d be eligible for more loads and routes if he trained for and received endorsements for tankers, double and triple trailers—and hazmat. Understanding the characteristics of the chemicals he was carrying, along with the safety protocols for loading and unloading them, helped him secure assignments that he couldn’t get without the hazmat training.

But you don’t have to change careers—or even change companies—to earn new responsibilities with hazmat training. If your company handles hazmat, completing a Hazardous Materials General Awareness course can make you eligible to work in new areas or locations.

And, with the ever-growing volume of lithium battery-powered devices being shipped for eCommerce, you can easily make yourself a more valuable worker by learning the regulations and compliant processes for lithium battery shipping.

Get deeper knowledge about your current hazmat responsibilities.

If you’re already working with hazmat, you know Dangerous Goods transport involves literally thousands of detailed regulations. These regulations can change frequently. They can vary sharply depending on the shipping mode and destination, or even on how much you’re shipping in a given package.

In other words, there’s always something new to learn. And the more you know, the more valuable you become to your organization.

For instance, you can save your company time and money by mastering the nuances of Limited Quantity Shipping. Or, if you’re already certified for ground shipping of Dangerous Goods, adding a certification in maritime shipping can open new doors for you if your company also ships hazmat by ocean.

Take DG training to elevate your value with your customers.

What if you’re not a “hazmat employee” at all?

Hazmat training can still be valuable if you work in sales or customer service, even if you have no responsibilities for preparing Dangerous Goods shipments for transport. Why? Because many of your customers do prepare hazmat shipments—for downstream distribution, or reverse logistics—and you can be infinitely more helpful to them if you know the basics yourself.

Plus, you’ll really enjoy our new General Awareness Hazmat Training course—a game-inspired, immersive experience that takes you inside a virtual warehouse, where you encounter different hazmat-related challenges and use your knowledge to solve them.

Use hazmat training to make yourself a team leader.

Most supply chain operations that ship Dangerous Goods have at least one person that everyone knows is the expert.

Why shouldn’t that person be you?

Why not be the team’s lithium battery guru? The whole team might take a course on shipping excepted lithium batteries, but if you study Fully Regulated lithium battery shipping and shipping damaged, defective, or recalled lithium batteries, you’ll be the person everyone knows will have the answers to their questions.

Or, why stop with IATA training for operations personnel? If you’re certified in IATA full shipper training, you can be the team leader when it comes to shipping hazmat by air.

Our library of online DG training courses—many of them including a game-inspired, 3D experience—is a convenient, cost-effective way to invest in yourself as a hazmat-shipping leader. Need suggestions about the best courses for your career future? Contact Labelmaster!

Make sure your shipments are safe and in complete compliance with a full line of solutions from Labelmaster—a full-service provider of goods and services for hazardous materials and Dangerous Goods professionals, shippers, transport operators and EH&S providers.