One of the most popular presentations at the 2021 Dangerous Goods Symposium might be delivered by someone with no Dangerous Goods experience. Meet Laura Denk, of eChoice Innovations—a Chicago-based firm that solves business challenges with innovative marketing programs. “When you’re talking to someone about what training they or their organization might need, you want them…
These 4 words can be a key to Dangerous Goods terminology
Your typical Dangerous Goods regulatory manual is more than a thousand pages long and may contain close to one million words. How is it possible that four of them could be so important? According to Labelmaster Senior Manager Jim Shimko, “There are four words that can help you interpret the regulations. And they can work…
Why smart e-bike retailers consider lithium battery training a growth strategy
E-bikes started as a trend, quickly became a mainstream movement, and are well on their way to becoming a revolution. They’re also a major story for the Dangerous Goods community, because e-bikes are powered by large format lithium batteries. These rechargeable batteries are fully regulated hazmat, since they carry a small but significant risk of…
Next-level hazmat training: An immersive, game-inspired experience
Regulations require training for anyone involved in the transport of Dangerous Goods, but forward-thinking organizations know training can also boost efficiency, reduce errors and improve overall performance. One thing hazmat training has never really been? Fun. But now we’re changing that. Several of our most popular industry-leading online training courses (see below for a complete…
South American hazmat rules are newly harmonized. Are you trained up?
Those of us in the North American Dangerous Goods supply chain may complain about the complexity of hazmat regulations, but lots of us don’t know how good we have it. After all, we only have to worry about one set of UN Model Regulations. Sure, there may be slight, unharmonized differences between Europe and North…
Chinese hazmat regulations explained! More notes from the 2020 DG Symposium.
Two recent sessions at the all-virtual 2020 Dangerous Goods Symposium explored two of the more complex issues faced by global hazmat transport operations: Chinese regulations and effective training. Not only are Chinese Dangerous Goods regulations often more restrictive than those in Europe or the U.S.—their regulatory structure can be baffling, too. Yet the continued growth…
Dangerous Goods Symposium preview: Competence, compliance and explosives
This year’s Dangerous Goods Symposium, for obvious reasons, won’t assemble the world’s leading trainers, shippers and regulators together for three days in the same physical space. But it will still bring the world’s hazmat shipping community together. This year, you can experience the Symposium at the new DG Exchange—the Dangerous Goods industry’s first digital community.…
How to evaluate and evolve your Dangerous Goods training program—part 2
Last week, we shared strategies from leading Dangerous Goods trainers for evaluating hazmat training programs to determine when they need updating. Here are some powerful tips for evolving your training program to match your current operation—and preparing it for future growth. If 2020 has proved anything, it’s that businesses must always be ready to adapt…
How to evaluate and evolve your Dangerous Goods training program—part 1
There are two reasons every organization that handles Dangerous Goods must conduct DG training: Regulations require that hazmat employees receive function-specific hazmat training. Training helps employees do their jobs better, which makes hazmat shipping safer and more efficient. Most businesses in the hazmat supply chain recognize that #2 is even more important than #1, and…
Three ways we can help hazmat operations handle change and uncertainty
Raise your hand if you love change and uncertainty! Yeah, that’s what we thought. Unfortunately, the first half of 2020 has brought about more change and uncertainty than any organization in the Dangerous Goods supply chain ever wants to deal with. It can be overwhelming. Are you facing challenges you never imagined a few weeks…