BoatUS Offers Marinas Free Oil Spill Training

Boat fuel dock summer hires can get free spill training compliments of the BoatUS Foundation

As boaters get ready for a busy boating season ahead, marinas, boat yards and clubs will be looking to hire additional dock hands for the summer. Some of these marina employees may be seasoned dock hands returning from previous years, while others may be new to handling the responsibilities of a fuel dock… and protecting our boating environment.

For those that are inexperienced, they are likely not trained to properly handle an oil or fuel spill at the dock. And this can be a very bad thing for boaters and marinas that care about the environment and maintaining a clean marina.

Now, thanks to a grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the BoatUS Foundation is able to offer these seasonal employees a critical learning tool with an online course called “Spill Prevention and Response for Marina Staff,” at BoatUS.org/spill-prevention.

BoatUS Oil Spill Course preview video:

The free online course covers spill prevention, planning and response, offers videos, interactive exercises and interviews with spill responders, marina owners and managers. The course can be taken at any time and only takes about an hour for most users and can stopped and started back up later where you left off if needed. BoatUS encourages marinas and clubs to send their new fuel dock staff to the course just after they are hired as part of their on-the-job training effort.”

The course also covers other practical topics, such as:

How to know when a boat fuel tank is full
Different types of oil and fuel products at marinas and how to handle each safely, legally and carefully
Impacts on the environment
Ways to identify spill prone activities and best practices to prevent a spill
Safety concerns and precautions needed with handling oil and fuel
How spill prevention and response laws impact refueling facilities
How to prepare for spill events and know what steps to take if you have a spill

In addition to the free online course, BoatUS Foundation offers two free downloadable maintenance tip sheets that are easy 1 page documents perfect for posting at your marina:

Safe and Clean Fueling (PDF)
Oil and Fuel Maintenance Tips (PDF)

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Diane Seltzer

Founder & Editor at My Boat Life

Diane is the founder of MyBoatLife.com as well as the boating lifestyle site for kids BoaterKids.com. Active in the boating industry, Diane is also the CMO of Epoch Boats, an all-electric hydrofoil boat startup.