Protecting Human Health, Safety and the Environment
Environmental Health and Safety
Hazardous Materials and Dangerous Goods are substances or materials that may pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property when transported in commerce. These materials include hazardous chemicals, infectious substances, radioactive materials, compressed gases, dry ice, lithium batteries, aerosol cans (and other pressurized items) and more. Substances commonly shipped from the university's Moscow campus include dry ice, infectious substances and materials preserved in ethanol. For more information, refer to the U of I Biosafety Shipping website.
Before shipping potentially hazardous materials or dangerous goods, be aware federal regulations require any person engaged in the handling, offering for transport or transporting of such items to have specific, formal training before performing these activities. Failure to have the appropriate training or shipping undeclared hazardous materials violates federal law and may result in fines.
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and the Office of Research Assurances (ORA) work together to help with shipping dangerous goods. They have the required training to ship a wide range of dangerous goods and hazardous materials by air and by ground and they can offer helpful options to fit your shipping needs. They can assist by:
- Providing dangerous goods shipping service if you do not ship by air or ground often, or if you are shipping something which is not covered by your training. They can research specific requirements as well as help pack, label and fill out paperwork for your shipment. They do request 10 business days' notice prior to your desired shipment date to allow sufficient time to research specific requirements.
- Providing training to designated personnel who ship specific dangerous goods and/or hazardous materials more often. For example, EHS provides DOT training if you are involved in any facet of shipping these items and ORA provides specialized online training for shipping biological materials and refrigerants.
Both EHS and ORA are available to help you through this process. For more information, please contact EHS (safety@uidaho.edu) or ORA (biosafety@uidaho.edu)
What training do I need?
Because we are frequently asked about our training courses and how to know which courses a particular person or job may need, we have prepared a matrix for supervisors to use as a guide in determining training. Based on answers to a list of questions, a training profile can be developed for each job. The matrix is intended as a starting point, and all of our general training must be accompanied by job/task-specific training from the supervisor or designee. Our website provides supplementary written materials on many topics, and we can provide supervisors with individual assistance upon request.