Program: Hazardous Materials Shipping


Lead: Charles Borromeo
Phone: (510) 642-0117
E-Mail: cborromeo@berekeley.edu

Team: Hazardous Materials Management
Associate Director: Patrick Goff

Description


Faculty, staff and students involved in shipping hazardous materials mustbe trained to ship or work with someone who has completed hazardous materialsshipping training. UC Berkeley's campus-wide policy on HazardousMaterials Shipping and Transportation (effective April 1, 2008) further describesthe responsibilities of those on campus who initiate, authorize or otherwisehave a role in the shipping of hazardous materials.

Federal and international laws require that anyone who transports, offers advicefor transport, or prepares hazardous materials for transport must be trained.Hazardous materials include biological materials, diagnostic specimens, geneticallymodified organisms or micro-organisms, infectious substances, hazardous chemicals,radioactive materials, and dry ice. Generally, training is required every twoyears. All shippers of hazardous materials must complete Departmentof Transportation (DOT) Security training. This training is availableon CD and can be viewed in the Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S)on the 3rd floor of University Hall, (510) 642-3073, ehs@berkeley.edu.

Be advised that some carriers, especially the United States Postal Service,do not ship certain hazardous materials. Contact the carrier before arrangingfor your shipment. See other agencies, organizations and resources at theend of this web page.

URGENT! - September 2008

Shippers Declaration of Dangerous Goods - Outdated Versions

Only a trained and UC Berkeley certified hazardous materials shipper is authorized to ship hazardous materials also referred to as Dangerous Goods. Certain hazardous materials/ dangerous goods shipments require the use of a Shippers Declaration of Dangerous Goods, easily identified by its red hash marked border. A number of outdated versions have been found on campus.

Please, check your forms. If you purchased a specification performance packagethat contained a copy of a Shippers Declaration of Dangerous Goods, if you havean inventory of these forms, or a version that you’ve saved on a digital file,check them now!

The following declaration is what you should find near the bottom section of your form.

I hereby declare that the contents of this consignment are fully and accurately described above by the proper shipping name, and are classified, packaged, marked and labeled/placarded, and are in all respect in proper condition for transport according to applicable international and national governmental regulations. I declare that all of the applicable air transport requirements have been met.


If your form does not include this last declaration "Ideclare that all of the applicable air transport requirements have been met," then your form is outdatedand must be destroyed. Continuing to use an outdated form constitutes a violationof Federal Law. If you have any questions please contact the Hazardous MaterialsSpecialist at 642-0373 or email cborromeo@berkeley.edu.




Hazard Type/Classification

Shipping Requirements

  

Biologicals
  • Infectious substances

  • Potentially infectious materials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • DNA & RNA

  • Human and animal samples (non-infectious only)

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  • Genetically modified micro-organisms routinely handled at Biosafety Level1 (international shipping)



  • Toxins

You may ship biological materials only after meeting the followingrequirements:
  • Complete SAF-T-PAK Shipping Class 6.2 Dangerous Goods, Biological substances & DryIce CD-based training and DOT Security CD-based training. Contact EH&Sat 642-3073 for an appointment. The training can be completed in about 3 hours.

  • If you are shipping biological materials that require a BiologicalUse Authorization (BUA), you must be listed on a current Berkeley campusBUA.

  • Additional permits may be required to ship materials out of state or outof the country.  Please see ShippingBiological Materials or contact the BiosafetyOfficer at 642-3073 for additional information.

  • The Office of Laboratory Animal Care (OLAC) must approve any shipmentinvolving animals.  See OLAC website for requirements: http://www.olac.berkeley.edu/Olac/Forms/index.shtml

If training requirements have not been met, biological materials mustbe shipped by EH&S (allow a minimum of two weeks).  Contact EH&Sat (510) 642-3073 for assistance or additional information.

You may ship the following without completing the SAF-T-PAK Shipping and DOTSecurity training.

  • DNA & RNA isolates (only if non-hazardous and contains no hazardous chemicals)

  • Humanand animal specimens (non-infectious only and not containing other hazardouschemicals - refer to pages 3 and 8 of the linked document)

If you need assistance, are shipping by the United States Postal Service,or are shipping internationally, please contact the BiosafetyOfficer at 642-3073.

Note that SAF-T-PAK Shipping and DOT Security training are required to ship thesematerials with dry ice.



These materials require the SAF-T-PAK Shipping and DOT Security training withadditional training provided by EH&S. Please visit Shipping Biological Materials and contact the Biosafety Officer at 642-3073 for assistanceor additional information.

 


Toxins are shipped as toxic substances (see Chemicals, below).


Chemicals (examples)
  • Explosives
  • Flammables
  • Gases
  • Oxidizers & organic peroxides
  • Toxic substances
  • Corrosives
  • Dry Ice


To ship hazardous chemicals, such as the categories at left, contactEH&S at 642-3073.

Allow a minimum of two weeks for EH&S assistance with your shipment.  Otherfactors that may affect the timeliness of your shipment include:

  • Details associated with international shipping

  • Accommodations for dry ice shipments

  • Approval for licenses or permits from agencies associated with transferof materials
If you are conducting research at a field station or out of the country, contactEH&S for assistance as soon as possible to minimize delay.

Radioactive Materials
  • All


Must be shipped by EH&S. Contact the Radiation Safety Team at 642-3073.

International Shipments
Export control regulations have been established for restricting theuse of and access to controlled information, goods, and technology for reasonsof National security or protection of trade.

In addition to following the guidelines as described above for hazard type classificationfor the material to be shipped, more information on how to properly ship, transmit,or transfer certain sensitive items, information, or software to foreign personsor entities may be found at the UC Berkeley research web site http://research.chance.berkeley.edu/echome.cfm.  Followthe guidelines as described above for hazard type classification for the materialto be shipped.

If you wish to ship intellectual property (either domestically or internationally), contactthe Office of Intellectual Property & Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA)to obtain information on Material Transfer Agreements and licenses, or to clarify questions regarding patentable inventions,copyrightable software, and tangible material transferred to the private sector: http://ipira.berkeley.edu/

Training Documentation
Records of training to ship hazardous materials must be kept by thework unit, laboratory or department. These records may be required in the eventof an inspection by a regulatory agency.

Regulations
Hazardous materials shipments are regulated by numerous government agencies andnon-government organizations. Shipping hazardous materials requires meeting complexregulations. Failure to meet these regulations has potential public safetyimplications and each violation of a regulation may result in the following:
  • Individual Civil penalties up to $32,500 per violation, per day
  • Willful individual violators may be fined up to $250,000 and/or receive upto 5 years in prison
  • The University may also be fined up to $500,000 per incident
For Regulations on Ground Shipments:For Regulations on Air Shipments:
  • International Air TransportAssociation (IATA) - regulates all aspects of dangerous goods transport viaair
  • Shipper must follow air carrier’s and country-of-reciept’s requirements,and all requirements of other agencies and organizations depending on the natureof the material
For Regulations on Export Controls:Other Agencies, Organizations and Resources:
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