Two years ago, the economy was rolling and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was hiring close to 120 new employees to keep people safe in the air. More employees, more regulations and, accordingly, more fines were the order of the day. Then, the Department of Transportation (DOT) started handing out record levels of citations and penalties for safety infractions dealing with hazardous materials in the air, on the highways, over rails, and in the water.

But after consulting the DOT's penalty action reports for the past couple of years, an unmistakable trend emerges. Up until 1997, the number of actions punishable by fines on an annual fiscal basis had been fairly consistent in the $6-million range. In 1998, however, total penalties collected by the DOT jumped to more than $11 million. And the DOT has levied penalties with increasing regularity—a persistent headache for shippers and carriers wary of incurring fines on a host of new regulations.

The most recent proposed regulation change involves transportation of infectious substances. The proposal is designed to help make regulations more agreeable to international transportation standards, which is an area of hot contention right now because fewer than 2% of all U.S. companies are ISO-9002 certified.

The rule would apply directly to infectious substances, including diagnostic specimens, biological products, regulated medical wastes, and genetically modified micro-organisms. Changes under review include the following:

• Revising current packaging requirements (again, for international consistency with respect to performance standards),
• Imposing certain packaging and hazardous communication requirements for shipments of diagnostic specimens,
• Adding new requirements for transportation of genetically modified micro-organisms consistent with international requirements, and
• Providing new bulk packaging options for transportation of regulated medical waste.

As the difficulty and cost of meeting DOT/UN regulation requirements continue to grow, a number of new products are helping shippers and carriers avoid costly citations.

For example, Hoover's Mamor IBC combines a blow-molded HDPE bottle with a steel grid made of galvanized tubing. Pre-assembled on a wood or steel pallet, the UN-approved IBC is intended for shipping regulated products. In addition, Mamor IBCs are supported by Free-cycle, a "closed-loop packaging" program, offering collection and recycling services of empty Mamor IBCs worldwide. Free-cycle uses an electronic MSDS management database to ensure safe handling and disposal of product residues. The Mamor IBCs have a rigid, UV-stabilized, high-density blow-molded polyethylene bottle with sloped bottom. It is available in 275-gal capacity.

M & M Industries Inc. offers Life Latch Super Seal reusable or permanently sealed containers for disposal of biohazard and chemotherapy materials. Features include a ratchet latch to keep the lid secured, ascrew on and off lid for easy access, and a Neoprine gasket that provides an air tight seal. The Life Latch Super Seal comes with an easy-carry handle and meets or exceeds all UN-DOT Group II & III requirements. Additional features include a tamper-evident slot provided for band, red, yellow and blue color-coding and offset printing or decals for container identification.