Application
This unit of competency covers the identification of the impacts on the community of current or future sustainability related actions of the organisation and its value chain and the implementation of measures to make those interactions more positive. It also includes assessing the sustainability impact back on the organisation and its value chain members of actions by the community. The unit may be applied to an entire organisation, part of a large organisation, or part or all of a value chain.
This unit covers the examination of an organisation’s and its value chain’s interactions with the community, including the identification of key communication channels and people, and an understanding of sustainability issues from their perspective. The organisation’s environment, for the purpose of this unit, is considered to include the ecology it impacts, the economic impacts on the organisation and the social impacts of the organisation.
Skills covered by this unit may be applied individually or in a team context and would typically be undertaken by a manager or senior technologist who has a significant sustainability responsibility work role.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. | ||
1 | Determine sustainability interactions with the community | 1.1 | Process map operation for the chosen portion of value chain. |
1.2 | Determine sustainability related impacts on the community for each process step. | ||
1.3 | Determine overall impacts on the community from the portion of the value chain as a whole. | ||
1.4 | Determine overall impacts on the community from the complete value chain. | ||
2 | Engage with the community | 2.1 | Determine any known community issues and actions which may be relevant to value chain. |
2.2 | Determine impact of community issues and actions on the sustainability of the organisation and its value chain. | ||
2.3 | Identify key community groups, representatives and opinion influencers. | ||
2.4 | Determine best strategy for engagement with the community on sustainability issues. | ||
2.5 | Implement strategy to define community sustainability issues with the organisation and value chain. | ||
2.6 | Rank issues by importance to the community and organisation. | ||
2.7 | Report issues and rankings back to appropriate internal stakeholders. | ||
3 | Compare issues raised with impacts determined | 3.1 | Select issues for action based on rankings and internal stakeholder feedback. |
3.2 | Determine root cause of selected issues. | ||
3.3 | Determine regulatory impact of issues and possible responses. | ||
3.4 | Develop an appropriate response for selected issues. | ||
3.5 | Explore alternative methods of addressing selected issues. | ||
3.6 | Categorise alternative methods. | ||
4 | Negotiate acceptable solutions | 4.1 | Negotiate solutions acceptable to the community, the organisation and value chain members. |
4.2 | Agree a timeline for action and indicators of progress. | ||
4.3 | Identify issues where no short-term resolution is achievable. | ||
4.4 | Establish agreed mechanism for ongoing monitoring of progress by the community. | ||
4.5 | Record outcomes in appropriate manner and communicate to relevant stakeholders. | ||
5 | Monitor and report progress of agreed solutions | 5.1 | Ensure projects are initiated as agreed. |
5.2 | Collect agreed metrics or other indicators. | ||
5.3 | Take action if solutions are not delivering as anticipated. | ||
5.4 | Maintain dialogue with community as agreed. | ||
Evidence of Performance
Evidence required to demonstrate competence in this unit must be relevant to and satisfy the requirements of the elements and performance criteria and include the ability, across an organisation or section/department, to:
identify interactions with the community that are sustainability related
define and analyse impact of the interactions on the organisation and all or part of the value chain
develop and follow through on ways of reducing adverse impacts/improving positive impacts
communicate and negotiate improvements.
Evidence of Knowledge
Must provide evidence that demonstrates sufficient knowledge to interact with relevant personnel and be able to identify and improve sustainability interactions with the community including knowledge of:
process and changes which occur at each step in selected value chain
principles of sustainability
causes of adverse ecological, social, economic impacts and methods of controlling/reducing them
root cause analysis
hierarchy of hazard control and its application to sustainability hazards
sustainability hierarchy
relevant legislation, regulation and protocols, government incentives and other initiatives
risk analysis and its application to sustainability risks
community benefits offered by the organisation/its value chain.
Assessment Conditions
The unit should be assessed holistically and the judgement of competence shall be based on a holistic assessment of the evidence.
The collection of performance evidence is best done from a report and/or folio of evidence drawn from:
a single project which provides sufficient evidence of the requirements of all the elements and performance criteria
multiple smaller projects which together provide sufficient evidence of the requirements of all the elements and performance criteria.
A third party report, or similar, may be needed to testify to the work done by the individual, particularly when the project has been done as part of a project team.
Assessment should use a real project where sustainability issues are determined and addressed, from the interaction of an organisation and its value chain with the community, for an operational workplace.
Knowledge evidence may be collected concurrently with performance evidence or through an independent process such as workbooks, written assessments or interviews (provided a record is kept).
Assessment processes and techniques must be appropriate to the language, literacy and numeracy requirements of the work being performed and the needs of the candidate.
Conditions for assessment must include access to all tools, equipment, materials and documentation required including relevant workplace procedures, product and manufacturing specifications associated with this unit.
Foundation skills are integral to competent performance of the unit and should not be assessed separately.
Assessors must satisfy the assessor competency requirements that are in place at the time of the assessment as set by the VET regulator.
The assessor must demonstrate both technical competency and currency.
Technical competence can be demonstrated through:
relevant VET or other qualification/Statement of Attainment AND/OR
relevant workplace experience
Currency can be demonstrated through:
performing the competency being assessed as part of current employment OR
having consulted with an organisation providing relevant environmental monitoring, management or technology services about performing the competency being assessed within the last twelve months.
Foundation Skills
This section describes those required skills (language, literacy and numeracy) that are essential to performance.
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.
Range Statement
This field allows for different work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included. | |
Sustainability incorporates all of | survival of the ecology/physical environment (to manage the impact of the business to ensure the survival of the physical environment) economic viability (efficiency, cost and waste reduction and competitiveness to support survival of the business) social sustainability (to manage the impact of the business to ensure its continued survival within the community and the survival of the community). |
Community includes one or more of | residents living in the area of the value chain people who use amenities in the area of the value chain people who work near the value chain employees of the value chain or the organisation other organisations in the area of the value chain general community. |
Amenities include one or more of | roads and public transport waterways parks and gardens public facilities, such as halls, libraries, shopping centres and other facilities open to the public. |
Importance to the community is based on one or more of | significance of impact importance perceived by a community member or organisation. |
Sustainability issues of particular relevance include one or more of | particular sensitivities of the local ecology (e.g. endangered species, sensitive local flora/fauna, material scarcity, water availability) general ecology issues and regulations (e.g. climate change and carbon footprint, pollution control measures) particular local social issues (e.g. distortions to the housing market, disruption to local lifestyles) general social issues (e.g. corporate citizenship, use or/deterioration to infrastructure) particular local economic issues (e.g. cost of capital, profit margins, competition) general economic issues (e.g. state of the economy, stage of the business cycle). |
Significance of impact includes one or more of | permanent loss or degradation loss or degradation which inhibits use by the following generation temporary degradation requiring remediation temporary degradation which is self remediating speed of change/degradation/loss. |
Sustainability impacts which cannot be prevented require mitigation and amelioration techniques which include one or more of | capture and storage (e.g. scrubbing) and similar ‘end of pipe’ solutions dilution/dispersion and similar techniques which reduce concentration but not amount other approaches which meet the sustainability requirements. |
Sectors
Not applicable
Competency Field
Sustainable operations