49 CFR 171.8 is the definitions section of the Hazardous Materials Regulations. It imposes no duty on anybody: it is the dictionary the rest of the subchapter uses. That is exactly why it matters. Almost every argument about whether a company needs hazmat training is really an argument about three terms defined here — hazardous material, hazmat employee and hazmat employer.
On this page, regulatory text and explanation are kept apart on purpose. Anything in an indented quote with a citation underneath is the text of the regulation, transcribed. Everything else is our reading of it, and our reading is not law.
Each definition has its own anchor, so you can link or cite a single term rather than the whole page — #hazmat-employee, #hazmat-employer, #hazardous-material.
The short answer
It depends on transportation in commerce and on what particular people actually do. Handling a hazardous material does not by itself place anyone inside the Hazardous Materials Regulations: the regulations are built around hazardous materials in transportation in commerce, and the training rule reaches an employer only where that employer fits the hazmat employer definition and at least one person fits the hazmat employee definition. Both turn on functions and on the facts of a specific operation, not on job titles or on what a company sells.
Section 171.8 defines all three terms. It says nothing about training itself — that duty lives in 49 CFR 172.704, which uses these definitions to decide who it applies to, and which carries limitations of its own in paragraph (e).
| Term | What it turns on | Where it is defined |
|---|---|---|
| Hazardous material | A determination and designation by the Secretary of Transportation, plus the hazard classes and the Hazardous Materials Table | 49 CFR 171.8 |
| Hazmat employee | What the person does, not the job title | 49 CFR 171.8 |
| Hazmat employer | Employing at least one hazmat employee, plus one of three listed activities | 49 CFR 171.8 |
| Training requirements | Being a hazmat employer with hazmat employees | 49 CFR 172.704 |
Hazardous material
A hazardous material is a substance the Secretary of Transportation has determined can pose an unreasonable risk when transported and has designated as hazardous. The definition then names the categories it includes, which is the part most people need.
Hazardous material means a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table (see 49 CFR 172.101), and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of this subchapter. 49 CFR 171.8, definition of “Hazardous material”
In plain English. There are two routes into the term. A material can be listed by name in the Hazardous Materials Table at 49 CFR 172.101, or it can meet the defining criteria for a hazard class or division in Part 173 without being listed by name. A material that is not in the Table is therefore not automatically outside the regulations. Checking the Table and stopping there is the most common way an operation concludes, wrongly, that it has nothing regulated on site.
Note also that the definition is written in terms of transportation in commerce. The same drum in the same warehouse can sit outside these rules while it is stored and inside them once it is prepared for shipment. Which is why the question is rarely “do we store chemicals” and usually “do we ship them.”
Hazmat employee
A hazmat employee is a person who directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety in the course of their employment — full-time, part-time, temporary or self-employed. That is paragraph (1). Paragraph (2) then lists the functions that bring an individual within the term.
Hazmat employee means:
(1) A person who is:
(i) Employed on a full-time, part time, or temporary basis by a hazmat employer and who in the course of
such full time, part time or temporary employment directly affects hazardous materials transportation
safety;
(ii) Self-employed (including an owner-operator of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft) transporting
hazardous materials in commerce who in the course of such self-employment directly affects hazardous
materials transportation safety;
(iii) A railroad signalman; or
(iv) A railroad maintenance-of-way employee.
(2) This term includes an individual, employed on a full time, part time, or temporary basis by a hazmat
employer, or who is self-employed, who during the course of employment:
(i) Loads, unloads, or handles hazardous materials;
(ii) Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a
package, container or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for
use in transporting hazardous material in commerce.
(iii) Prepares hazardous materials for transportation;
(iv) Is responsible for safety of transporting hazardous materials;
(v) Operates a vehicle used to transport hazardous materials.
49 CFR 171.8, definition of “Hazmat employee”
In plain English. The test is functional. Nothing in the definition refers to a job title, a department, a seniority level or a proportion of the working week. Paragraph (1)(i) asks only whether the employee “directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety”, and paragraph (2) answers it with a list of tasks: loading, unloading, handling, preparing for transportation, being responsible for the safety of transport, and driving.
“Full-time, part time, or temporary” is in the text of the definition itself. A seasonal packer, a weekend driver and an agency temp are inside it on the same terms as a permanent employee. So is an owner-operator, through paragraph (1)(ii). An operation that trains only its full-time staff has read the definition more narrowly than it is written.
Two groups are named individually rather than left to the functional test: railroad signalmen and railroad maintenance-of-way employees, in paragraphs (1)(iii) and (1)(iv). If that is your workforce, you do not need to argue about whether the functional test is met.
We have a longer walk-through of this definition applied to real roles on what counts as a hazmat employee and who needs DOT hazmat training.
Hazmat employer
A hazmat employer is a person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee and who does one of three things: transports hazardous materials in commerce, causes them to be transported in commerce, or works on packagings represented as qualified for hazmat use. Both halves have to be true.
Hazmat employer means:
(1) A person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee on a full-time, part time, or temporary
basis; and who:
(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;
(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or
(iii) Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests a
package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person as
qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce;
(2) A person who is self-employed (including an owner-operator of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft)
transporting materials in commerce; and who:
(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;
(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or
(iii) Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests a
package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person as
qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce; or
(3) A department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, or an authority of a State,
political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe; and who:
(i) Transports hazardous materials in commerce;
(ii) Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce; or
(iii) Designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests a
package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold by that person as
qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce.
49 CFR 171.8, definition of “Hazmat employer”
In plain English. The structure repeats three times because the definition covers three kinds of employer — an ordinary employer, a self-employed person, and a government body — and attaches the same three activities to each. The activities are what to read closely.
- “Causes hazardous materials to be transported in commerce” is the prong that reaches companies that own no trucks. Handing a regulated package to a carrier is within the words of paragraph (ii). A business that has never operated a vehicle can still be a hazmat employer.
- The packaging prong does not require you to transport anything at all. Designing, manufacturing, inspecting, marking, maintaining, reconditioning, repairing or testing a packaging that you represent, mark, certify or sell as qualified for hazmat use is enough on its own, under paragraph (iii).
- “Employs or uses” is broader than a payroll relationship, and it sits alongside “full-time, part time, or temporary.” How the person is engaged is not the test.
Note what the definition does not contain: there is no threshold. No minimum headcount, no minimum shipment volume, no small-business carve-out. One hazmat employee and one qualifying activity is the whole test.
Two terms the definitions lean on
Both definitions above are built on the word person, which 171.8 also defines, and neighbouring rules use carrier. Reading them avoids a common misreading of “hazmat employer” as something that applies only to companies.
Person means an individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company; or a government, Indian Tribe, or authority of a government or Tribe, that offers a hazardous material for transportation in commerce, transports a hazardous material to support a commercial enterprise, or designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce. This term does not include the United States Postal Service or, for purposes of 49 U.S.C. 5123 and 5124, a Department, agency, or instrumentality of the government. 49 CFR 171.8, definition of “Person”
Carrier means a person who transports passengers or property in commerce by rail car, aircraft, motor vehicle, or vessel. 49 CFR 171.8, definition of “Carrier”
In plain English. “Person” includes individuals, so a sole proprietor is a person for these purposes and can be a hazmat employer. And “carrier” is defined by the act of transporting, not by holding any particular operating authority.
One term people often look for in 171.8 is not there: shipper is not a defined term in this section. The regulations work instead through defined terms such as “person who offers”, “carrier” and the activity-based prongs quoted above. If a vendor tells you a rule applies to “shippers” as 171.8 defines them, ask which definition they mean.
When 171.8 turns into a training duty
Section 171.8 never mentions training. The duty is in 49 CFR 172.704, inside Part 172 Subpart H, and 172.704 is written for the hazmat employer and its hazmat employees — the two terms defined above. So the chain runs in one direction: if the definitions in 171.8 fit you, Subpart H is what tells you what to do next.
- Is the material a hazardous material? Listed in the Hazardous Materials Table at 49 CFR 172.101, or meeting the defining criteria for a hazard class or division in Part 173. See the definition above.
- Is anyone in your operation a hazmat employee? Apply the functional test and the task list in the definition above, across full-time, part-time and temporary staff.
- Are you a hazmat employer? At least one hazmat employee, plus transporting, causing to be transported, or the packaging activities in the definition above.
- Then read 172.704. It sets out the categories of training, the deadlines and the recordkeeping. We summarise it on 49 CFR 172.704 training requirements, with the timing on how often training is required and the records on what a 172.704(d) record must contain.
One more thing to read in 172.704 before you conclude that every category applies to everyone. Paragraph (e) of that section is headed “Limitations” and relieves two narrowly described groups of hazmat employees from some — not all — of the training categories in paragraph (a): employees who manufacture, repair, modify, recondition or test packagings and perform no other function subject to the subchapter, and railroad maintenance-of-way employees and signalmen who perform no function subject to the subchapter. The categories each group is relieved from are different, and the relief turns on that “no other function” condition, so read paragraph (e) itself rather than a summary of it: eCFR § 172.704.
Whether a specific material in your operation is a hazardous material, and whether a specific person meets the hazmat employee definition, are determinations about your facts. We are a training provider, not a regulator and not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. Read the current text at eCFR § 171.8 before making a compliance decision, and take counsel where the answer matters.
What our course covers
Our core course is hazmat employee training under Part 172 Subpart H, for ground transport under 49 CFR, in English and Spanish. It covers general awareness and familiarization, a function-specific baseline, safety, and security awareness, with an assessment and a 49 CFR 172.704(d) training record generated for every person who passes.
Where it stops, plainly: it is not HAZWOPER, not emergency-responder training and not a CDL hazmat endorsement, and it does not provide in-depth security training for employers required to have a security plan under Part 172 Subpart I. It also cannot complete function-specific training for duties it does not cover. See the regulatory scope of the course and DOT hazmat training vs HAZWOPER if either of those is what you were looking for.
Common questions
What is a hazmat employee under 49 CFR 171.8?
A hazmat employee is a person employed full-time, part-time or on a temporary basis by a hazmat employer who, in the course of that employment, directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety. The definition also covers the self-employed, including owner-operators, as well as railroad signalmen and railroad maintenance-of-way employees. Paragraph (2) of the definition lists tasks that bring an individual within the term, including loading, unloading or handling hazardous materials, preparing them for transportation, being responsible for the safety of transporting them, and operating a vehicle used to transport them.
What is a hazmat employer under 49 CFR 171.8?
A hazmat employer is a person who employs or uses at least one hazmat employee and who transports hazardous materials in commerce, causes them to be transported in commerce, or designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs or tests a package, container or packaging component represented, marked, certified or sold by that person as qualified for use in transporting hazardous materials in commerce. The definition also reaches the self-employed on the same terms, and government bodies: a department, agency or instrumentality of the United States Government, or an authority of a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe.
Does 49 CFR 171.8 itself require training?
No. Section 171.8 only defines terms. The training requirement is in 49 CFR 172.704, inside Part 172 Subpart H. The two work together: 171.8 decides who is a hazmat employee and who is a hazmat employer, and 172.704 states what the employer must then do about training, testing and records.
Is a job title enough to decide whether someone is a hazmat employee?
No. The test in 49 CFR 171.8 is written around what the person does, not what the role is called. Paragraph (1)(i) turns on whether the employee “directly affects hazardous materials transportation safety”, and paragraph (2) lists functions rather than positions. Nobody in an operation needs the word hazmat in their title for the definition to be met.
Where can I read the official text of 49 CFR 171.8?
The current text is published in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov, under Title 49, Subtitle B, Chapter I, Subchapter C, Part 171, Subpart A, section 171.8. The eCFR describes its own content as authoritative but unofficial; the official legal print publication is the Code of Federal Regulations.
Primary source and review
Primary source: 49 CFR § 171.8, Definitions and abbreviations, in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. The quoted definitions on this page were transcribed from the eCFR text displayed on 30 October 2026, which stated that it was up to date as of 22 October 2026 and that Title 49 was last amended on 13 October 2026. The eCFR describes its own content as authoritative but unofficial; the Code of Federal Regulations is the official legal print publication. Written and reviewed by the HazTeam Ready Editorial Team.
Train the people this definition covers
If the definitions above fit your operation, the next step is in 172.704. Our bilingual course covers hazmat employee training for ground transport, with an assessment and a 172.704(d) record for everyone who passes.
Certificate of Completion and a 49 CFR 172.704(d) training record for every person who passes. Secure checkout with Stripe, and the course opens as soon as the payment clears. See team plans for 5 and 10 employees, or how the online course works.