Elements and Performance Criteria
- Confirm environmental management responsibilities
- Interpret legislative, regulatory and licensing requirements and approvals that apply to site/project.
- Clarify own scope of responsibility/authority for achieving specific environmental outcomes for site/project and the roles of other key personnel.
- Identify resources available to implement environmental management policies and plans for site/project.
- Develop and maintain positive relations with site personnel and stakeholders
- Identify significant stakeholders, their relationship to the workplace and position or perceived attitudes about the site/project.
- Participate in meetings and networks to obtain/maintain knowledge about stakeholders, their representatives and their issues.
- Use appropriate strategies to foster the trust and confidence of site personnel and stakeholder representatives.
- Communicate workplace positions/requirements in a way that acknowledges concerns of personnel/stakeholders and promotes understanding.
- Respond to requests for information or participation in stakeholder activities in accordance with workplace procedures.
- Provide timely, authorised information using language, styles and formats that are readily understood.
- Identify difficult situations and negotiate solutions by using a collaborative approach and harnessing cooperation (within scope of responsibility).
- Obtain regular feedback and use it to maintain and enhance positive relations.
- Provide environmental management information and training
- Use environmental management plans and recent incident reports to identify/review information and training needs of site personnel.
- Access, or develop, information and training programs to meet the identified needs.
- Provide accessible information and training programs to ensure that all site personnel understand their environmental obligations/responsibilities.
- Confirm site personnel’s understanding of environmental management actions specified for specific work areas and activities.
- Monitor the effectiveness of information and training and adjust content, format and delivery strategies, as appropriate.
- Assess environmental impacts and risks
- Review scheduled activities well in advance to identify implications for environmental management.
- Identify potential/actual events, risks and activities that may cause/have caused harm to the environment.
- Conduct inspections and in-situ measurements to quantify risks and impacts.
- Report assessment of risks and impacts in accordance with workplace/legislative requirements.
- Ensure environmental monitoring and management plans are implemented
- Conduct specified environmental monitoring and site inspections to check performance against environmental management requirements.
- Ensure that workplace environmental monitoring instruments are fully functioning and maintained appropriately.
- Conduct additional monitoring/inspections after atypical events, legitimate complaints or government requests to assess whether environmental management plan is operating effectively.
- Examine results of in-situ measurements, laboratory analyses, inspections and audits to identify significant trends, non-conformance and/or incidents.
- Respond to environmental non-conformances and incidents
- Recognise unusual situations, unexpected risks/hazards and potential/actual environmental incidents.
- Implement workplace procedures for responding to environmental non-conformance and incidents to ensure prompt control and remediation.
- Investigate the causes of non-conformances and incidents within scope of responsibility and in accordance with workplace/legislative requirements.
- Analyse findings to identify opportunities to re-design activities, work practices, environmental controls, information/training programs and/or management procedures.
- Implement authorised corrective/preventative actions to prevent recurrence of non-conformance/incident and to reduce risks.
- Record all recommendations, actions and outcomes in accordance with the workplace/legislative requirements.
- Keep management informed about environmental performance
- Provide regular reports about environmental performance, instances of potential/actual non-conformance and incidents and the actions taken in each case.
- Report opportunities and recommendations for improvements in accordance with workplace procedures.
- Seek manager’s advice when challenges are beyond own scope of responsibility/technical competence or when input from environmental specialists may be required.
- Maintain environmental records
- Ensure all required records are legible, accurate and satisfy workplace/legislative requirements.
- Store environmental records to enable easy access and review by authorised personnel according to workplace procedures.
- Regularly review and assess environmental records to identify significant trends and impacts.
- Identify any problems with the maintenance and security of records and resolve them promptly.