Recently, PHMSA published a listing of the 130 civil penalty cases it closed in the 2008 calendar year. The total dollar amount collected for these violations was over $1.1 million. While I fully support inspections and investigations that lead to penalties for non-compliance, it makes me wonder what the hazmat community can do to save themselves from these costly mistakes.

22 of the 130 cases involved some sort of training violation, usually in addition to other violations. As a trainer, that seems like one of the easiest requirements to comply with, putting that training to use on the job can be trickier. I have always seen training as the best way to make sure you are doing something right, and I imagine it applies to many of these cases, even if there were no training violations involved.

If you are interested in the listing, it can be found at here.