Nearly 300 individuals involved in the regulation, enforcement and safety of hazardous materials/dangerous goods transportation attended the Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Conference, Jan. 27-31, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hosted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and funded, in part, by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Community Safety Grant, the five-day COHMED Conference provided specialized technical training to individuals who represent the organizations and agencies that regulate and enforce the safe transportation of hazardous materials and dangerous goods, along with industry stakeholders.
Hazardous materials specialists, law enforcement personnel, and trucking companies and associations attended the COHMED Conference to receive advanced training and participate in discussions on highly specialized issues related to hazardous materials/dangerous goods transportation, regulation and enforcement. The conference featured informative and collaborative sessions on some of the most important topics related to the hazmat community, such as:
- The transportation of fireworks and applicable regulations
- S. special permits and Canadian regulations on fiberglass reinforced plastic tanks
- The basics of hazardous materials regulations
- Mexico’s regulations on hazardous materials transportation
- The UN packaging code on non-bulk packaging/small means of containment
- Classification of hazardous materials and blends
- The significant differences between DOT specification cylinders and UN pressure receptacles
- Cargo tanks used to transport crude oil and other hazardous materials unique to the oilfield industry in the U.S. and Canada.
- Testing requirements for MC331 bobtail cargo tanks designed to transport 2.1 (flammable gas) hazardous materials in the U.S. and TC331 cargo tanks used in Canada.
Attendees at the conference also received regulatory updates from Transport Canada and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Check out the photo gallery from this year’s COHMED Conference.
Next year’s COHMED Conference is scheduled for Jan. 25-29, 2021, in Savannah, Georgia.