Shipping package for hazardous material vials and other fragile items

A package for protecting a vial of hazardous material, comprising:

• a crush-resistant inner container configured to store the vial therein, the inner container having an absorbent material attached to and covering an inner surface thereof and forming an innermost surface of the package adjacent a contained vial, the absorbent material thus being positioned to absorb liquid that leaks from the vial before the liquid can escape the inner container;
• and
• an outer container surrounding the inner container, the outer container comprising a semi-rigid can formed of fluid-impervious, flexible polymer and having a receptacle portion and a closure portion releasably fastenable to the receptacle portion so as to render the outer container substantially impervious to fluid outside the outer container.

A package for protecting a vial of hazardous material, comprising:

• a crush-resistant inner container configured to store the vial therein, the inner container having an absorbent material covering an inner surface thereof and forming an innermost surface of the package adjacent a contained vial, the absorbent material thus being positioned to absorb liqiuid that leaks from the vial before the liquid can escape the inner container;
• and
• an outer container surrounding the inner container, the outer container comprising a semi-rigid can formed of fluid-impervious polymer and having a receptacle portion and a closure portion releasably fastenable to the receptacle portion so as to render the outer container substantially impervious to fluid outside the outer container, the receptacle portion having an end wall adjacent one end of the inner container, at least the end wall of the outer container being transparent to allow the interior of the outer container to be seen from outside thereof.