Codes of practice | Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, it is expected the latest version will be used |
Legislation, standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements | Legislation, standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements may include: federal legislation, such as: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The Environmental Protection Act 1986 state/territory government legislation and regulations and local government by-laws, policies, and plans dealing with: land use, acquisition, planning and protection environmental protection Australian and international standards, such as: AS/NZS 4323.3:2001 Stationary source emissions - Determination of odour concentration by dynamic olfactometry VDI 3940-2:2006 Measurement of odour impact by field inspection - Measurement of the impact frequency of recognizable odours - plume measurement VDI 3940-3:2010 Measurement of odour impact by field inspection - Determination of odour intensity and hedonic odour tone VDI 3882-1:1992 Olfactometry - determination of odour intensity SAA HB 9 Occupational personal protection data quality procedures enterprise procedures for monitoring and checking calibration of dynamic olfactometers equipment manuals and warranties, supplier catalogue and handbooks material safety data sheets (MSDS) occupational health and safety (OHS) national standards and codes of practice |
Odour nuisance | Odour nuisance involves the cumulative effects of odour on people and may include: perceived intensity and offensiveness of odour perceived duration and frequency of occurrence difficulty in coping with the odour at a specific time and location a belief that the odour has a negative effect on their wellbeing and health |
Odour sources and geometries | Odour sources may include: wastewater treatment plants and sludge ponds solid waste recycling plants landfill and landfill gas treatment plants chemical plants composting operations, food and by-product processing, such as rendering and tanning plants agriculture/livestock facilities, such as poultry and pig farming, cattle feedlots and mushroom farms Odour source geometries may include: point, area, volume and fugitive sources |
Information about the site and industrial activities | Information about the site and industrial activities collected by air quality scientists and engineers may include: location of site and nearby buildings, topography and meteorological records complaints, previous odour assessments at site and nearby locations other industrial activities or potential odour sources in the surrounding area industrial process inputs/outputs, flow diagram and process flowchart unit operations and typical variability, and nominal and upset conditions pollution control equipment and techniques for industrial processes air emission control systems, such as scrubbers, bag filters, stacks and bio filters forced or natural ventilation within odorous buildings parameters of emission sources, such as location, geometry, and release parameters for processes operational conditions and period of operation batch or continuous operation for units upstream from the emission source predictable variations in process conditions, production rates and weather interaction |
Odour monitoring plans | Odour monitoring plans may include: monitoring protocol with details of purpose, duration and scope (parts of the community involved, available resources, detailed procedures and data quality requirements) site map showing key community features, plant boundaries, possible/confirmed odour sources, topography, and most exposed or likely future sensitive receptors field monitoring with panellist/observer locations (e.g. addresses, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates), and periods of measurement data collection forms (e.g. observer/panellist locations, intensity levels measurements, weather conditions, odour descriptors, and observer comments and identifier) |
Complaint records | Complaint records may include: date and time of the complaint and complainant details odour characteristic and weather conditions actions undertaken to verify the complaint actions undertaken to fix the issue back communication/information to complainant |
Community observer questionnaires | Community observer questionnaires may include: use of standard terminology and questions to avoid/minimise bias telephone interviews newspaper notices inviting responses diaries to collect data, such as odour strength, characteristics, date, time and location of detection, wind speed and direction, and physical reactions (e.g. itchy eyes and difficulty breathing) face-to-face interviews with community members |
Odour monitoring equipment | Odour monitoring equipment may include: dynamic olfactometers for laboratory use when preparing panellists reference material, such as n-butanol torch, stopwatch and GPS anemometer and thermometer |
Pre-use checks of odour monitoring equipment | Pre-use checks of odour monitoring equipment may include: cleanliness of reusable items range, accuracy, precision and lowest detection limit (LDL) for dynamic olfactometer prior to preparing panellists n-butanol storage cleanliness of the measurement room of the olfactometry laboratory batteries for torch, stopwatch, GPS, anemometer and thermometer |
Selection and training for field and internal panellists and community observers | Selection and training for field panellists for regulatory requests may include: use of the reference material (n-butanol) to determine odour threshold and performance of individuals in relation to normative values use of standard dynamic olfactometry procedures odour intensity ranking test triangle test odour descriptor assignation training with odours relevant to survey objectives effects of alertness, attention, fatigue, health status, suggestibility (imagining an odour) and variability/inconsistency of the odour detection in the field odour panel calibration results (AS/NZS 4323.3:2001 Stationary source emissions - Determination of odour concentration by dynamic olfactometry) and traceability of the panellist tests Selection and training for internal (in reference with the plant) field panellists may include: internal procedures that may include n-butanol pens, odour descriptor assignation with an odour wheel, odour intensity ranking test, and triangle test training with odours relevant to survey objectives basic weather data descriptions effects of alertness, attention, fatigue, health status, suggestibility (imagining an odour) and variability/inconsistency of the odour detection in the field effects of ‘adaptation’ (reduced perceptibility) due to internal panellists’ workplace location Selection and training for community volunteer observers may include: procedures that may include n-butanol pens, odour descriptor assignation with an odour wheel training with odours relevant to survey objectives selection criteria, such as location, availability, known health problems with symptoms impacting on olfactory sense, and relevant previous training/work use of ‘objective’ odour observation techniques basic weather data descriptions use of information recording forms effects of alertness, attention, fatigue, health status, variability/inconsistency of the odour detection in the field and suggestibility (imagining an odour) |
Odour monitoring data | Odour monitoring data may include: odour source conditions at time of the assessment field odour measurement data, such as identification of the field panellist/community observer; date, time, duration and location of the assessment; operational process conditions if available; intensity and odour characteristic reference scale used for the test; diaries or observation record sheets from community observers; table with all panellist’s and observer’s observations; meteorological conditions at the time of the assessment; any atypical conditions in the area of the assessment; processing data and interpretation; and reporting |
Odour control strategies | Odour control strategies may include: physical, such as adsorption, absorption, photo ionisation, masking and neutralisation chemical, such as scrubbing, oxidation and incineration biological, such as biofiltration using bacteria combined, such as bioscrubbers |
OHS and environmental management requirements | OHS and environmental management requirements: all operations must comply with enterprise OHS and environmental management requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation - these requirements must not be compromised at any time all operations assume the potentially hazardous nature of samples and require standard precautions to be applied where relevant, users should access and apply current industry understanding of infection control issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and State and Territory Departments of Health |