In addition, the HMR specifies whether the vehicle transporting hazardous
materials must be placarded and the specific placards required, along with
the amount and type of training required to handle and ship hazardous
materials.
Not all countries use the same graphics (label, placard, and/or text informa-
tion) in their national regulations. Some use graphic symbols, but without
English wording or with similar wording in their national language.
Materials communications................................................................
Communicating information pertaining to the hazardous materials or danger-
ous goods you are transporting and the potential hazards associated with
them requires that you produce and manage detailed documents about them,
including multilingual material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and transportation
emergency cards (tremcards), as well as the appropriate placards and labels
on the goods themselves.
A sophisticated material safety data sheet (MSDS) system plays a key role in
these areas. Its database constitutes the central storage location for all infor-
mation about the materials your company uses or produces. And should
someone be harmed by a hazardous substance or dangerous good, your cur-
rent, accurate database enables you to record the incident in your exposure
log and then create the subsequent required reports.
You’ll need to be able to answer questions about your use of hazardous mate-
rials, so you’ll need to have all your information in good order. Check whether
the data in your vendor MSDS is up-to-date; organize your vendor MSDS for
audits and other official checks; link vendor MSDSs to material masters;
prepare safety operating procedures such that they are readily available in
appropriate work areas; and, lastly, ensure that labels on incoming materials
reflect hazardous information in respective vendor MSDSs.
Transporting materials ......................................................................
The transportation of hazardous materials and dangerous goods is subject
to the most widely regulated practices in the world, which are standardized
on the whole by Model Regulations on the Transportation of Dangerous
Goods. This set of directives is issued by the Committee of Experts on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods of the United Nations Economic and Social
Council. The International Civil Aviation Organization’s regulations for air
transport of hazardousmaterials are a modified version of this model, for
example. Many other individual airline and governmental requirements are
incorporated with the ICAO’s regulations, as well, per the universally abided
International Air Transport Association Dangerous Goods Regulations.
228 Part III: Going Green
