How Important is Training?

When it comes to shipping hazardous materials, the importance of training can not be overstated. Following are excerpts from some Federal Aviation Administration press releases. Try to spot the trend.

FAA Proposes $70,000 Civil Penalty against Southwest Airlines for Hazmat Violations

FORT WORTH -- The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed to assess a $70,000 civil penalty against Southwest Airlines for allegedly violating Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations.

FAA alleged Southwest knowingly accepted a shipment containing hazardous materials as checked baggage aboard one of its aircraft. The shipment consisted of a box packed with 20 smaller boxes each containing 50 disposable lighters. Such devices are classed as hazardous materials under the regulations.

The shipment was clearly marked as "lighters" when Southwest accepted it, the FAA alleged. Southwest is a "will-not-carry" airline for hazardous materials. The airline transported the shipment from Houston to Dallas. A Southwest employee discovered the illegal shipment when it was unloaded at Love Field. Southwest then notified the FAA. The FAA has also issued a notice of proposed civil penalty to the passengers who offered the shipment.

The company has 30 days from receipt of the enforcement letter to respond to the agency. Announcement of the proposed civil penalty is made in accordance with FAA's policy of releasing information to the public on newly issued enforcement actions in cases that involve penalties of $50,000 or more.

FAA Seeks $72,000 Civil Penalty Against United Airlines for Shipping Undeclared Oxygen Generator on Fedex

FORT WORTH--The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed to assess a $72,000 civil penalty against United Airlines Inc. for allegedly offering a damaged, unmarked and undeclared oxygen generator to Federal Express for transportation by air from San Francisco International Airport to a Texas firm.

The alleged violations of federal hazardous materials regulations occurred last July when United shipped the four-pound unexpended oxygen generator from a United stores unit at San Francisco to Aviall Aircraft Parts in Dallas aboard a FedEx cargo aircraft.

Aviall employees in Dallas discovered the oxygen generator and notified the FAA. This shipment was not accompanied by shipping papers and it was not properly packaged, marked, labeled or declared as a hazardous material. In addition, United failed to provide the required emergency response information. United did not obtain the DOT approval necessary to ship it by cargo aircraft. As a result, the FAA alleged that United violated several federal hazardous materials transportation regulations.

United has 30 days from receipt of the enforcement letter to respond to the agency. Announcement of the proposed civil penalty is made in accordance with the FAA's policy of releasing information to the public on newly issued enforcement actions in cases that involve penalties of $50,000 or more.

The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed assessing $60,000 in civil penalties against Predmor, Inc., a Canadian company . . . for violating regulations regarding the shipment of hazardous materials ... the FAA alleged that representatives knowingly offered ... an improperly packaged, labeled and documented shipment ...the FAA also alleged that Predmor failed to train its employees to package and handle hazardous materials.

FAA proposes $80,000 civil penalty against Santa Ana company for hazmat violations. Applied Industries Tech, Inc... offered the hazardous material for shipment when it was not packaged, labeled, marked, classed, described, documented ...or in condition for shipment ... AIT also failed to ensure that employees were trained to properly package and handle the hazardous materials ...

There is definitely a trend here. Could these fines have been avoided if the companies had adhered to the regulations involving the training of their staff?

FAA proposes $85,000 penalty against Chicago company for hazmat violations. Paxton Patterson ... offered the hazardous materials for transportation when it was not packaged, labeled, marked, classed, described, documented, inspected, or in condition for shipment ... Paxton Patterson also failed to ensure that employees were trained to properly package and handle hazardous materials ...

FAA proposes $99,000 penalty against Amerijet International for hazmat violations ... for allegedly violating regulations concerning training employees who handle hazardous materials which are offered for transport aboard aircraft.
This is not so much a trend as it is a broken record. For one percent of the above fine, a company could train four or five employees.

FAA proposes fine against Wurth USA Inc ... The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice proposing to assess a $110,000 civil penalty against Wurth
USA ... investigators responded to a report of undeclared hazardous materials shipments ... not properly described, classed, packaged, marked, labeled and in the condition required for shipment by air ... not all of the company's employees responsible for handling hazardous materials had been trained in accordance with the hazardous materials regulations.

FAA proposes $909,000 in fines for hazmat violations ... 12 companies were cited for improperly packaging, labeling, marking, classifying, documenting or inspecting the shipments; or for allowing employees to package and handle materials who were not trained to do so.

The obvious question here is why not be safe? Why not save money? Why not adhere to all the international regulations that insist that anyone who ships or handles Dangerous Goods must be a trained person? If your company is involved in shipping or handling Hazardous Materials of Class 6 Division 6.2 infectious substances, Saf-T-Pak can help. We offer one-day training seminars that are available all over North America. We have also produced a leading edge, multi-media, interactive CD ROM of this training. With this CD, staff can be trained in 2 to 4 hours.

When you consider the huge dollar amounts of the civil penalties quoted above, the small cost of training should be at the very top of your company's expenditure list.