Serving General
Manufacturing, Construction,
Industry and Municipalities
since 1981

Transportation Safety Definitions

HAZMAT EMPLOYEE means a person who is employed by a hazmat employer and directly affects hazmat transportation safety including:

An owner-operator of a motor vehicle which transports hazmat; a person (including a self-employed person) who:

  • loads, unloads, or handles hazmat;
  • tests, reconditions, repairs, modifies, marks, or otherwise represents packaging as qualified for use in the transportation of hazmat;
  • prepares hazmat for transportation;
  • is responsible for safety of transporting hazmat; or
  • operates a vehicle used to transport hazmat.
HAZMAT EMPLOYER means a person who uses one or more of its employees in connection with:
  • transporting hazmat in commerce;
  • causing hazmat to be transported or shipped in commerce;
  • representing, marking, certifying, selling, offering, reconditioning, testing, repairing, or modifying packaging as qualified for use in the transportation of hazmat.
(The term "hazmat employer" also includes any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States, a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe engaged in offering or transporting hazmat in commerce.)

PHMSA is the US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

TRAINING means a systematic program (i.e., consistent approach, testing, and documentation) that ensures that a hazmat employee has knowledge of hazardous materials and the HMR, and can perform assigned hazmat functions properly. See § 172.700(b) through § 172.704.