Meeting compliance for hazardous material shipping requires a specific, experienced skillset––even if your company has years of experience in shipping and logistics. There are strict global, federal, and local regulations dictating how to transport dangerous materials. Shipping consulting companies can help ensure your staff is trained and knowledgeable and that your company meets compliance with applicable regulations.
Here are five reasons you should hire a shipping consultant.
Do you know and understand all your legal responsibilities?
Even as a third-party shipper, you still have a wide range of legal responsibilities if you’re transporting hazardous materials. Unfortunately, being unaware of these responsibilities doesn’t make you any less liable if it turns out you’re not meeting them. Shipping consulting services include regulatory interpretations to ensure you’re adhering to the requirements, plus penalty mitigation after a violation.
When you outsource to a shipping consultant, they’ll start with a compliance audit. That audit will provide you with a full report of the processes and procedures you’ll need to put in place as part of your legal responsibilities. They’ll also make sure you and your team understand the local, regional, and federal requirements.
Have you identified and listed all hazardous materials in your workplace?
You may be transporting hazardous materials without even knowing it. If you’re moving into an international market, there are different exporting regulations than shipping locally and nationally. Rather than sorting through the dense manuals and guidebooks from the World Health Organization, Department of Transportation, and International Air Transport Association, hire shipping consulting services for your business.
Experts will come on-site to evaluate your business and ensure you’ve identified all hazardous materials in the workplace. They’ll check for proper labels and will provide the associated training for your team members.
Does your staff know their responsibilities for handling and transporting dangerous materials?
For meeting compliance for transporting hazardous materials, your team is the best asset you have. Getting them the training and follow-up recertifications is easy when you outsource to an experienced team providing shipping consulting services.
CARGOpak Corp provides both on-site training courses and convenient webinars. We never use pre-recorded videos but engage team members in interactive seminars that ensure your employees understand and keep critical information. Every webinar includes a final written test.
Do you have emergency plans in place to protect your team, your business, and your clients?
Even with the best training in the world, accidents and emergencies can happen. What separates a minor disruption from a disaster is how–and how fast–you and your team respond. Establishing company-wide emergency plans, and practicing emergency response, will have your employees prepared if the worst happens.
Good emergency planning includes thorough training about hazardous and dangerous materials and their risks and containment procedures. You can operate with confidence when you have solid emergency plans in place and your team’s ability to execute them.
Are you sure you have the correct documentation and records?
A substantial portion of ensuring compliance is having the correct documentation for the hazardous materials you’re shipping and your team’s training and registration with the appropriate governing bodies.
Locating, organizing, and maintaining those records is time-consuming and requires substantial responsibility for office managers or assistants. Shipping consulting includes collecting and organizing documentation and ensuring everything is in proper order in an audit or compliance inspection.
For customized shipping consulting from an industry expert, contact CARGOpak Corp.
Our team has over 30 years of direct hazardous material expertise. There’s no need to create a new in-house position for shipping dangerous materials or risk the consequences of not meeting compliance. We provide everything your company needs to send hazardous materials, train your team, and provide the insight and guidance that comes from three decades of experience.
All our shipping consulting services begin with a needs assessment. Or, start by contacting our team of experts to learn more about how we can help solve your hazardous material shipping concerns.
