KPA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘DOT’

Confront the Killer – Could Distracted Driving Unintentionally Hurt Your Dealership?

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Car with front end damage due to accident, air bag deployedIf you ask your employees whether they’re safe drivers, they’ll generally answer, “Yes.” Truth is, most of us really try to be safe drivers.

Your dealership has many employees who drive as a part of their jobs and may be unaware of how distracted they are. According to OSHA, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of worker fatalities.

There are steps you can take as an employer to reduce risks related to distracted driving. For example:

  1. Training. Driving’s gotten a lot more complicated since most of us climbed behind the wheel for the first time. KPA’s Safe Driver training includes information on preventing distractions, defensive driving and evasive maneuvers.
  2. Awareness campaigns. You can hold a “Drive Safely” campaign at your dealership. Trafficsafety.org offers videos, fliers and other items you can use at your work sites to make employees more aware of the risks.

Awareness and training are important because we get so used to distractions when we drive, we don’t realize we’re at risk. (You can test your own risk for distracted driving on KPA’s site.)

To find out more about your responsibilities as an employer, visit the Department of Transportation website Distraction.gov. Pages with good information for employers include Regulations and State Laws. KPA clients can also contact their safety engineer or HR consultant for help with training programs.

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Posted in DOT, Environment & Safety, Safety Culture, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

New Safe Driving Online Training Course

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

You’ve asked for it and now it’s here: The Safe Driving online training course. If you or your employees test drive vehicles that have been in for service, shuttle customers to or from your location, take customers on test drives as part of the sales process, or transport vehicles or parts from one location to another, this course will help increase the number of safety precautions you take every time you get behind the wheel.

Take the course for a spin today! Go to mykpaonline.com > Dashboard > My Online Training > and then scroll down until you see Safe Driving. When you’re finished, let us know what you think by taking the survey at the end of the course.

Also, keep an eye out for a new course on respiratory protection set to launch this fall. Have a course you’d like to see KPA develop? Let us know!

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Posted in DOT, KPA, Training: Industry Updates | 5 Comments »

Hazmat Training – Lives depend on it

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Tech training in service areaYou know how the old adage goes: “Train as if your life depends on it, because it does.” This is especially true when it comes to hazardous materials training – many lives depend on the proper training of Hazmat Employees.

As we have mentioned before, if you have hazardous chemicals in your facility (and remember that acetone and gasoline are hazardous chemicals), you must comply with DOT hazmat rules (Title 49 CFR 172, Subpart H) and OSHA’s Hazard Communication (“Right to Know”) Standard. If you don’t regularly ship hazmat or you are not a manufacturer of hazardous materials, don’t think that your dealership is immune to the regulations. Whether you or ship hazardous materials once per year or every day; around the block or across the country; in a small package or in a tank: You must protect your employees and the public from any potentially adverse effects of the chemicals being handled.

The idea is pretty straightforward: Workers have a right to know about the substances and chemicals with which they come in to contact, and any risks they may be exposed to, as well as the proper protective equipment to use. Under the Hazard Communication Standard, shippers are also required to maintain a database of Material Data Safety Sheets (MSDS) and a facility-specific chemical inventory of the chemical products stored and used throughout their facility.

Every employee who affects the safety of hazardous materials transportation is a Hazmat Employee and must be trained. This definition also applies to the owner or the operator of the vehicle transporting the hazardous materials in commerce or any employee who, during his or her course of employment:

  • Handles, loads, or unloads hazardous materials
  • Manufactures, marks, classifies, labels, packages, or otherwise represents containers, drums, or packagings which are classified for use in the transportation of hazardous materials
  • Prepares hazardous materials for transportation
  • Is responsible for storage and disposal of hazardous materials
  • Is responsible for safety of transporting hazardous materials
  • Operates or owns a vehicle to transport hazardous materials

Take this simple quiz to see if your dealership could pass an OSHA/DOT audit:

  1. Do you have records confirming at least one employee has DOT Hazmat Certification?
  2. Is this training being updated every three years?
  3. Did this training include the newly required “Security Awareness” training?
  4. Are you following the proper procedures for hazardous shipments using the proper labels, classifications, identification numbers, and packing groups according to the DOT’s hazardous materials table?
  5. Do you provide the required 24-hour emergency contact phone number on your shipping papers?

Read more of our EHS DOT blogs.

If you are unable to answer “yes” to every question, contact us to learn more about our new standalone DOT and MSDS service.

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Posted in Citations, DOT, Employee Relations, Environment: Industry Updates, OSHA, Safety: Industry Updates, Training: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Announcing the latest KPA services!

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Here at KPA, we have good news to announce about our latest and greatest software and services! We have taken our Environmental, Health, and Safety services product line and we have more than (drum roll please…) doubled what we offer!

We have expanded our three levels of service to seven levels to accommodate all of the many different types of auto dealers, auto service shops, heavy equipment dealers and manufacturers. We now have more options and competitive pricing for the smaller, independent dealers in the marketplace as well as the many other size dealerships, so that we are able to be of help to any size or shape business.

Our latest offer includes a standalone DOT and MSDS service, the next level is Elements service, our Fundamental and Fundamental Plus, Core and Core Plus, and Pro service. In addition to these, we are excited to have incorporated a self-inspection and survey tool that is available on our online software, MyKPAOnline, so you don’t have to use other generic surveys to audit your site. Our other latest special feature which adds to our “Plus” services is the addition of “online conference and audit reviews.” These online, webinar-style audit reviews are a convenient and practical way to have your safety issues reviewed with your KPA safety professional from the comfort of your desk.

Read the latest news release and go to our EHS Software and Services.

Keep the great ideas coming; we are listening!

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Posted in Environment: Industry Updates, KPA, Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Tire Tracking Enforcement on the Rise

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Are you aware that each and every tire that is sold at your dealership must be accompanied by a completed registration for every customer?

You should be. Though registration of tires has been a federal mandate of The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) since the 1970s, enforcement has significantly increased. Penalties for noncompliance can range from $1,000 per tire with a maximum fine of $880,000.

In order to comply, the tire dealer must provide consumers with:

  • A tire registration form to document the brand of tire,
  • Department of Transportation (DOT) tire identification numbers (TIN), and
  • The selling dealer’s name and address, or
  • The dealer must register the tires electronically providing the same information as above.

The registration form must be pre-addressed, mailable, and must be offered free of charge. If you choose to register the tires electronically, you must choose a method that is acceptable to the tire manufacturer.  A number of third-party tire registration vendors exist in the market to help with this requirement.

The objective of this regulation is consumer safety, which aims to remove potentially unsafe tires from the streets in the event of a safety-related tire recall. It is the buyer’s right is to be notified in case there is a problem with the tire that could lead to serious or life-threatening injury if left unaware, and it is your responsibility to ensure they have registered tires, or the information to do so themselves when they leave your facility. Tire registration at the time of purchase is the only realistic way for a manufacturer to notify the buyer of the tire recall.

For more information, check out the rule from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the recent amendments regarding electronic registration.

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Posted in DOT, Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Who needs DOT training?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Sounds like a simple question and you would expect a simple answer, doesn’t it? Yet, the reality is that many employees and employers alike don’t know the answer. Or worse, because they cannot readily find the answer, they assume they don’t need it. Unfortunately, in many cases they are required by DOT to have training.

Let’s review a few definitions and requirements.

Question: what defines a “hazmat employee”?

Answer: a hazmat employee is a person who is employed by a hazmat employer and who in the course of employment directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety. This term includes an individual, including a self-employed individual, employed by a hazmat employer who, in the course of employment: (1) Loads, unloads, or handles hazardous materials; (2) Manufactures, tests, reconditions, or repairs, modifies, marks, or otherwise represents containers, drums, or packages as qualified for use in the transportation of hazardous materials; (3) Prepares hazardous materials for transportation; (4) Is responsible for safety of transporting hazardous materials; or (5) Operates a vehicle used to transport hazardous materials.

Question: who needs DOT hazmat training?

Answer: all hazmat employees require training including the following: (1) General awareness/familiarization training, and (2) Function-specific training.

Question: when and how often do I need training?

Answer: Initial training by a new hazmat employee, or a hazmat employee who changes job functions must be completed within 90 days after employment or a change in job function. Recurring training is required at least once every three years.

Check out the DOT regulations for the 49 CFR, Part 172, Subpart H regulations or the website of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for a less formal and more readable explanation.

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Posted in DOT, Safety: Industry Updates, Training: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »