New ideas in Dangerous Goods packaging don’t come along very often. And when they do, they get a lot of extra regulatory scrutiny. Take secondary hazmat packaging kits. For decades, the only option available was the metal can, and all the packaging regulations providing exceptions were written with metal cans in mind. So, when we…
DG Digest: Federal agencies publish semi-annual agendas
After a busy regulatory period for the last blog entry, this last week featured a much quieter time. Meanwhile summer goes on, so keep watching those heat safety risks. And don’t forget to have a little fun—August is the last month of summer, so be sure to try and enjoy it! Here’s the latest news:…
Transport Canada publishes a large miscellaneous update to its TDG regulations
Here we are sweltering in late July! Much of the nation is in the grip of record-breaking heat, so all of us need to be sure to pay extra attention to heat safety—let’s keep our fellow employees protected from heat exhaustion and heat stroke, both potentially dangerous conditions that can severely injure or even be…
DG Digest: PHMSA publishes public meeting schedule in advance of ICAO and UNSCOE TDG sessions; and U.S. agencies publish semi-annual regulatory agendas.
The end of February is here, but the grind of winter weather hangs on for a while et. Much of the country is battling snow and cold. Grit your teeth and hang in there—warmer days are coming. Meanwhile, be sure that your workplace keeps on top of snow removal, ice treatments, and keeping employees that…
Federal agencies publish list of civil penalty fee amount adjustments
Welcome back, everyone, and Happy New Year! Here comes 2023! Hopefully, everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. Now it’s time to bear down, grit our teeth, and slog through the rest of the winter. It’s also time for another year of the DG Digest, and we’ll do our best to keep bringing you…
DG Digest: DOT enforcement relaxation cited to address conflicts with coming harmonization
Here we are in mid-December, with the holiday rush in full swing. Lots of our fellow employees are thinking about anything but work—it’s natural, this time of year. As HSE professionals, let’s make sure we help our workers stay focused on safety as they work their way through these next few weeks. The best holiday…
9 improvements you can expect from smarter online hazmat training
Ever ask a sulky teenager to execute a household chore? They’ll do the bare minimum, but it’s easy to see that it could have been done better. There’s a similar dynamic with Dangerous Goods training. The law says employees have to be trained if an organization ships or handles hazardous materials, and many companies do…
Don’t design your large format lithium battery crate until you answer these 5 questions
If you’re transporting large format lithium batteries—like the ones for electric vehicles, solar power storage, data centers and other heavy-duty purposes—you’re going to need a large packaging solution. But if you start focusing on your packaging solution without doing the necessary intelligence work first, you could set yourself back weeks, or even months. Not to…
DG Digest: PHMSA to publish FAQs for Hazardous Materials Regulations on their website
Heading into the end of the month of March, we find that PHMSA is releasing an interesting new feature for DG shippers—a “Frequently Asked Questions” list related to some of its Letters of Interpretation or LOI. Looks like the agency is trying to avoid some of the inevitable repetition that occurs with stakeholders ending up asking…
DG Digest: Federal Agencies Release Semi-annual Agendas
Here we are at the end of January already! One month gone from the New Year. Hopefully, your resolutions are still sticking. Meanwhile, time flies, but at least we’re all a month closer to the new Spring. Let’s all get through the rest of the winter safely—keep your cold weather plan up to date and…