38 Spray March 2016 Steven CharleS hunt President, ShipMate, Inc. From here to there: Topics in Transportation Get a Crash Cart…Stat! My experience as both an enforcement agent for the U.S. Coast Guard and as dangerous goods consultant has taught me that the best strategy to prepare for an inspection from any regulatory agency is to develop and maintain a “crash cart.” Borrowed from the medical profession, I developed this idea for a number of my clients and I’m happy to share the idea with the readers of SPRAY. Before any regulatory agency inspection, companies should develop, implement and provide training on a procedure to handle visits from federal, state or provincial, or local regulatory agencies. This procedure should include the following key steps: • Identify the inspector • Inform management and make them available • Determine the scope of the inspection • Advise legal counsel • Accompany the inspector • Answer questions • After inspection, follow-up When an agency inspector arrives, ask to see his or her credentials, exchange business cards and write down the inspector’s name, agency, scope of the inspection and statutory authority they are inspecting under. You should immediately notify the facility management and make a corporate officer available to speak with the inspector. The corporate officer may then delegate another to accompany the inspector or answer questions after an initial pre-brief meeting. Ask the inspector to identify those activities of particular interest. By defining the scope of the inspection, this will limit what the inspector will see and will help you expedite the inspection process. You should also advise legal counsel. However, the agency inspection should not be stalled pending discussions with counsel, unless the agency presents a search warrant, in which case you may want to have legal counsel present. You should accompany the inspector to the precise area(s) that he/she needs to see. Do not detour or offer to show the inspector areas outside of the scope of the inspection. Questions should be answered truthfully to the best of your knowledge. Do not elaborate beyond the scope of the question. If there is something that your facility is doing above and beyond the minimum requirements of the law, it may be appropriate to mention or explain it, provided it is relevant to the line of questioning. If you do not understand the question or if the line of questioning is outside of your expertise, it is perfectly acceptable to refer to the appropriate person that is qualified to answer or to say “I don’t know, but I will find the appropriate person that can answer that.” Crash Carts Often, you may be able to circumnavigate an extensive inspection by preparing beforehand. When the agency inspector is first received, he or she should be led to a quiet conference room where you can discuss the scope of the inspection and the reasons why your facility is being inspected. At that time, it would be a good idea to have a Crash Cart brought into the conference room so that you can share examples of documentation, training records, training materials, waste manifests and regulatory references with the inspector, rather than leading the inspector throughout the facility to find the documents they need to see. A well stocked Crash Cart will contain the following documents, references and materials: • Current copies of relevant regulatory references (e.g., 49 CFR subchapter C, International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO Technical Instructions, International Air Transport Association IATA Dangerous Goods regulations, Emergency Response Guidebook ERG, etc.) • Current copies of procedures for receiving, storing, handling, packaging and shipping dangerous goods • A list of associates that are classified as hazardous materials employees and a brief description of the job functions they perform • A training matrix that identifies the employee by name, the dates and types of training received and scores for exams taken
Spray March 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above