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SOUNDING OFF OPINION • THE LINK BEWEEN REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE IS FOUND IN THE CLASSROOM. TWO TRAINERS GIVE AN INSIGHT INTO HOW THEY WORK AND WHAT IT MEANS Trainers serve a critical role in ensuring the safe transport of hazardous materials – that much is no secret. The best trainers have the ability to break down complex domestic and international regulations in ways that are both easy to understand and memorable. In some ways, trainers are like tour guides for dangerous goods regulations: they point out where to find the applicable rules, what to look for, and where to watch your step. Lion Technology recently sat down to talk to two experienced dangerous goods trainers who help deliver its training programmes in the US. Joel Gregier and Robert ‘Bob’ Clarke are both Certified Dangerous Goods Professionals
(CDGP) with nearly three decades of dangerous goods training experience between them. Joel has worked in the hazardous materials/ dangerous goods field most of his adult career. In addition to training thousands of professionals on 49 CFR, IATA DGR, and IMDG Code regulations, he spent time working for a major chemical distributor in the US and oversaw their transition to the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). Bob worked in the US Air Force for more than two decades. As an environmental coordinator operating from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, Bob visited locations to
ensure the proper storage and handling of hazardous materials. The views and insights of Bob and Joel presented here are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Lion Technology itself. What element of hazmat/dangerous goods compliance is most challenging for those just starting in the field? Joel: The technical skills you need are most difficult when you’re first starting. Things like classifying materials, selecting proper shipping names, and the like. When you have to look at hard data and compare it against the regulations, that can be daunting in the beginning. Eventually, it becomes second nature. Bob: From a management standpoint, I think figuring out which individuals need to be trained can be tough. A lot of the time, we think only the shipping department needs dangerous goods training. But really, employees who close packages along the line might need it. People who put caps on bottles might need it. Training is important for everyone who qualifies as a hazmat employee. What qualities do you think help professionals excel in the dangerous goods field? Joel: Precision. And attention to detail. When it comes to dangerous goods regulations, if you miss even one requirement, you could be penalised, have your shipment rejected, all of that. So precision is a must-have. With attention to detail, you have to see both the big picture and the small picture. In other words, not only do you know that a package needs labels and markings, but exactly which labels and markings it needs. How and where they should be placed. Or how different sized packages or different modes of transportation might impact those decisions. Bob: Attention to detail is on my list too. Another example would be: I don’t just need any box, I need a 4G box. I need a certain strength box. The big picture is that employees need training. But which employees need it? How much training do they need, and what should it cover? If you’re not paying attention to every detail, it’s easy to miss things.
HCB MONTHLY | MARCH 2020
