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Elements and Performance Criteria

  1. Identify environmental management obligations
  2. Implement specified management plans and procedures
  3. Respond to potential/actual environmental issues and incidents
  4. Report the application of environmental plans and procedures

Required Skills

Required skills

Required skills include

accessing interpreting and applying relevant legislativeregulatory requirements

applying environmental management plans and procedures when planning and conducting work activities

demonstrating attention to detail and due diligence

accurately observing and recording environmental conditions at sites

using enterprise checklists to assess environmental risks at local worksites

conveying information using clear and concise verbalwritten communication

working both independently and in teams

solving straightforward problems

seeking advice when issuesproblems are beyond scope of competenceresponsibility

working safely for the protection of self and others

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes

terms such as environmental protection risk hazard control impact assessment and management

concepts such as conservation cultural heritage and biodiversity

relevant legislativeregulatory requirements and responsibilities

environmental management plansprocedures and standard operating procedures relevant to job role

site characteristics and environmental issues risks and impacts

specified control measures and management actions relevant to work activities

enterprise procedures for identifying hazardsassessing risks associated with work activities

enterprise procedures for responding to complaints culturalheritage finds and other environmental incidents

enterprise environmental reporting requirements

relevant health and safety requirements and enterprise safe work procedures

Evidence Required

Overview of assessment

Competency must be demonstrated in the ability to perform consistently at the required standard

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Assessors must be satisfied that the candidate can competently and consistently apply the skills covered in this unit of competency in new and different situations and contexts Critical aspects of assessment and evidence include

assessing and explaining the environmental requirements relating to their work activities at sites

recognising and assessing hazards risks environmental issues and incidents relating to their work activities at sites using enterprise checklists

accurately recording and reporting details of hazards risks environmental issues and incidents

implementing specified environmental management plans actions and procedures

contributing to continuous improvement of environmental procedures

completing relevant documentation clearly and accurately

Context of and specific resources for assessment

This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or a simulated workplace environment

Assessment should emphasise a workplace context and procedures found in the candidates workplace

This unit of competency may be assessed with

MSSA and MSSA series of units

MSS024000A and MSS025000A series of units

MSL environmental monitoring sampling or testing series of units

The competencies covered by this unit would be demonstrated by an individual working alone or as part of a team

Resources may include

site history

relevant enterprise environmental management policies plans actions procedures and checklists

physical resources required for work activities such as maps laptop computer digital camera and monitoring and sampling equipment

Method of assessment

The following assessment methods are suggested

feedback from peers and supervisors

oral or written questioning to check underpinning knowledge of environmental requirements for typical tasks

observation of candidate preparing for and performing a range of environmentaltechnical tasks

review of workplace documentation completed by the candidate

In all cases practical assessment should be supported by questions to assess underpinning knowledge and those aspects of competency which are difficult to assess directly

Where applicable reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity age gender demographics and disability

The language literacy and numeracy demands of assessment should not be greater than those required to undertake the unit of competency in a worklike environment

Guidance information for assessment


Range Statement

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

Environment

The environment comprises the surroundings in which an enterprise and/or industry operates, and may include:

air, water and land

natural and built resources

flora and fauna

humans and how they interrelate

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

Australian Heritage Council Act 2003

Native Title Act 1993

state/territory government legislation and regulations and local government by-laws, policies, and plans dealing with:

land use, acquisition, planning and protection

environmental protection

cultural/heritage protection

vegetation management

nature conservation and wildlife/plant protection

water and water management

soil conservation

pollution and contaminated sites

fisheries, forestry and mining operations

Australian and international standards, such as:

AS/NZS ISO 14000 Set:2005 Environmental management standards set

Australian Dangerous Goods Code ADG7

occupational health and safety (OHS) national standards and codes of practice

enterprise environmental management plans and procedures for specific sites and/or activities (e.g. sampling, monitoring, manufacturing, construction and mining)

Environmental management plans

Environmental management plans provide a framework for managing all environmental aspects, impacts, risks and obligations relevant to a site, project or significant work activity. Plans may include:

an aim, vision and enterprise policy statement

roles and responsibilities

potential environmental issues

actions to avoid, remedy and mitigate the issues

procedures and forms to minimise and manage specific environmental impacts and risks

quality management plans

communication and training requirements

monitoring, auditing and reporting requirements

Environmental issues

Environmental issues will vary with the scope and location of the enterprise’s work activities, and may include:

emissions to air

releases to, and of, water

releases to land

soil erosion, sedimentation and salinity

contamination of land

disturbance of flora and fauna, threats to sensitive species and destruction of habitat

introduction of pests, such as weeds and fire ants

noise and vibration

disturbance to heritage sites or items

generation, reuse and disposal of waste

use of energy sources

handling, storage, spills, or exposure involving hazards, such as chemicals and radiation

Environmental risks and impacts

Environmental risks and impacts comprise any potential (actual) adverse or beneficial change to the environment, whether direct or inferred, wholly or partially resulting from an enterprise’s activity, product or service. Risks and impacts may include:

mismanagement of chemicals or fuel products

mismanagement of biological agents

land use practices

planning deficiencies

poor construction processes

waste generation and disposal

Sites

Sites may include:

buildings and other infrastructure

construction, mining, manufacturing, forestry, agricultural and maintenance sites

bushland

catchments, flood plains, surface/groundwater sites and drainage sites

wetlands and marine/coastal areas

Environmental reporting requirements

Environmental reporting requirements may include providing contributions to:

regular site environmental reports

non-conformance report forms

hazard, near miss and safety incident report forms

environmental incident investigation report forms

regulatory agency reports

Environmental management documentation

Environmental management documentation may include:

site/project history, plans, procedures, actions and checklists

information about applicable legislation and regulatory requirements

records of correspondence and complaints

incident reports and incident investigation reports

quality assurance/verification checklists

job hazard analyses, permits and safe work procedures

internal check/audit reports

training records

records to comply with permit, licence and approval conditions

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