Ask someone, “Why do you believe that environmental training makes sense in today’s world?” and you will likely get a wide array of responses. Some of the more interesting replies include, “Oh, I’m not a tree hugger type” or “I don’t really follow that climate change stuff.”
But most people recognize that environmental compliance has something to do with clean air, clean water, and not contaminating the soil…all of which is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA.
Those who own an Ohio business realize that, to stay in business, compliance with the federal, state and local laws is not voluntary which also makes environmental training of your workers mandatory. How can an employee be expected to comply with rules and regulations that they neither understand or are properly trained to fulfill?
A second myth evolves from the belief, “Because my business is so small, we don’t have to worry about environmental training or the EPA.”.
Does your facility have (or need) air permits, a wastewater discharge permit, a stormwater permit or exemption, or generate any hazardous waste? Nearly every environmental permit or plan requires annual employee training in order to comply with the Terms and Conditions they contain.
Yet, some Ohio businesses are so pleased to have obtained the required air permits and/or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits they need, these permits get filed away without realizing the continuing commitments outlined, only to be surprised that no one received the environmental training needed to properly sample, record data or submit the mandatory reports in a timely manner.
Similarly, any company who requires a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan or who generates hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations must provide regularly scheduled retraining. The bottom line is, in most cases, environmental training is not a choice; it is mandated by the federal, state or local law.
Besides compliance, why else does environmental training make sense for businesses? Good environmental management and waste minimization resulting from company-wide environmental training can lead to real cost savings. It also avoids other expensive hits to the bottom line, like the EPA fines or production interruptions which often accompany EPA citations for violating the regulations.
Finally, keep in -mind the old adage, “A business is only as good as its reputation.”. No owner wants to battle a poor company image held by its customers, its employees, its community, or the regulatory agencies. Nothing profitable can result from that time-consuming and costly struggle, which makes effective environmental training a truly sensible option for businesses.
Still not sure if your employees require environmental training or whether these regulations even apply to your business? Now would be a great time to contact the experts at, Compliance Technologies, Inc.
