United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
Washington, D.C.
EPA 832-F-99-010
September 1999
Storm Water
Management Fact Sheet
Employee Training
DESCRIPTION
In-house employee
training programs are
established to teach employees about storm water
management, potential sources of contaminants,
and Best Management Practices
(BMPs).
Employee training programs should instill all
personnel with a thorough understanding of their
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP),
including BMPs, processes and materials they are
working with, safety hazards, practices for
preventing discharges, and procedures for
responding quickly and properly to toxic and
hazardous material incidents.
APPLICABILITY
Typically, most industrial facilities have employee
training programs. Usually these address such
areas as health and safety training and fire
protection. Training on storm water management
and BMPs can be incorporated into these programs.
Employees can be taught through 1) posters,
employee meetings, courses, and bulletin boards
about storm water management, potential
contaminant sources, and prevention of
contamination in surface water runoff, and 2) field
training programs that show areas of potential storm
water contamination and associated pollutants,
followed by a discussion of site-specific BMPs by
trained personnel.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Advantages of an employee training program are
that the program can be a low-cost and easily
implementable storm water management BMP.
The program can be standardized and repeated as
necessary, both to train new employees and to keep
its objectives fresh in the minds of more senior
employees. A training program is also flexible and
can be adapted as a facility’s storm water
management needs change over time.
Obstacles to an employee training program include:
C
Lack of
commitment
from
senior
management.
C
Lack of employee motivation.
C
Lack of incentive to become involved in
BMP implementation.
KEY PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Specific design criteria for implementi