Guidelines have been established under Part 6 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations to assist in outlining the roles and responsibilities of employers, employees, and owner-operators in the training, transport and handling of dangerous goods by truck.
Transport Canada requires that dangerous goods training certificates are issued to demonstrate that individuals are properly trained to fulfill their duties. The majority of the enforcement that affects the trucking industry in Ontario concerning TDG certificates lies with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), who are authorized by Transport Canada to enforce the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations.
One of the areas where there has been some confusion among carriers is how to and be compliant and issue certificates to drivers, owner operators and contractors.
From MTO’s perspective when it comes to determining compliance, OTA has been advised by MTO that officers are trained to ask who employs the driver. If the driver advises enforcement that they are self-employed (e.g. owner-operator or contractor) the officers would then look to determine that the training certificate card has to be signed by them. If the driver were to advise the officer they were employed by the carrier, MTO would expect to see the carriers name on it. What the MTO officers are effectively trying to determine with their questioning is whether the driver is paid as a contractor or an employee.
MTO has also advised that the processes they use to determine compliance on this issue is consistent across the country with other enforcement agencies.
More information regarding TDG training and certificates can be found at the Transport Canada FAQ website
OTA members with questions can direct them to tdgtraining@184.107.41.74