Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to establish and manage the environmental management system.
This unit of competency applies to senior technicians, paraprofessionals and those in similar roles who are required to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the business, process and plant in order to identify and quantify business opportunities from environmental management and establish procedures, goals and systems to implement environmental sustainability, continuous improvement and sustainable innovation as integral to the business.
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 | Develop an environmental management system | 1.1 | Select an appropriate environmental management system as a model for the enterprise/plant |
1.2 | Develop environmental management policies that reflect the organisation's commitment to environmental sustainability as an integral part of business planning and as a business opportunity | ||
1.3 | Develop strategies to encourage all stakeholders to meet high standards of environmental performance and support sustainable innovation and continuous improvement | ||
1.4 | Develop policies and procedures to incorporate and support triple bottom line principles | ||
1.5 | Develop policies/procedures which minimise environmental impacts | ||
1.6 | Check policies conform to current regulatory requirements | ||
1.7 | Address environmental management at the planning, design and evaluation stages to ensure that any changes in the workplace are identified for ongoing impact and opportunity | ||
2 | Manage innovation and improvement | 2.1 | Identify, evaluate and take into consideration changing trends and opportunities relevant to the organisation for ongoing improvement programs |
2.2 | Promote continuous improvement and sustainable innovation as an essential part of doing business and as a context for assessment and planning of environmental performance | ||
2.3 | Develop continuous improvement and innovation policies and procedures that include training and professional development to optimise the environmental performance of the organisation | ||
2.4 | Develop a system to analyse and communicate the costs and benefits of innovations and improvements and to measure, monitor and record environmental performance | ||
2.5 | Develop performance benchmarks and indicators and set targets to maximise continuous improvement | ||
3 | Review environmental management system | 3.1 | Develop processes to ensure that an integrated ongoing review is part of the organisation policy and procedures |
3.2 | Promote improvement and sustainable innovation to organisational performance by ongoing evaluation and assessment, and changes to policies | ||
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 to:
obtain and analyse information from a range of sources to determine environmental aspects/interactions of plant and/or processes and potential impacts
communicate, consult and negotiate effectively with internal and external stakeholders from a range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and physical and mental abilities
use problem-solving skills to develop strategies and procedures to deal with identified environmental impacts and opportunities
plan, write and evaluate a system of policies and procedures to implement the strategies and procedures into the organisation.
Evidence of Knowledge
Evidence must be provided that demonstrates sufficient knowledge to interact with relevant personnel and be able to manage the environmental management system, including knowledge of:
change management
continuous improvement
policy development, performance benchmarking and indicator development relevant to the organisation's activities
environment sustainability as a 'whole system' approach
implications/application of sustainable development for a business
techniques to measure sustainability/environmental performance in terms of an organisation's impact on the environment and their ability to manage and minimise negative impacts
application of the 'triple bottom line' (TBL) principle as a framework for measuring and reporting corporate performance against economic, social and environmental parameters
management strategies and workplace practices that can be used to minimise or prevent these effects, including:
recycling and reusing
reducing amount of non-renewable resources used
reducing volume and/or concentration/intensity of pollutants made
reducing emissions
improving housekeeping (e.g. using a broom instead of a hose, and using old rags for cleaning instead of toxic cleaners or water)
substituting materials (e.g. replacing toxic solvent-based coatings with water-based ones)
changing processes (e.g. mechanical cleaning, and re-design of products/procedures so that materials are used more efficiently)
tenders for the provision of goods and services that specify environmentally preferred selection criteria
quality systems
supply chain management
relevant system analysis and design principles
organisation business goals and strategic plans
strategies to maximise opportunities
environment impact minimisation strategies
environmental issues, including as relevant to the organisation, water catchments, air/emissions, noise, ecosystems, habitat and waste minimisation
relevant social sustainability issues, including corporate image, staff morale, customer loyalty and community engagement
financial/market issues related to environmental management, including cost reduction, product differentiation/branding and identification of market potential
organisation procedures, including those covering:
environmental management
safety, emergency and hazard control
procurement
duty of care obligations
hierarchy of control.
Assessment Conditions
The unit should be assessed holistically and the judgement of competence 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 in an operational workplace. Where this is not possible or practical, assessment must occur using a sufficiently rigorous simulated environment reflecting realistic operational workplace conditions. This must cover all aspects of workplace performance, including environment, task skills, task management skills, contingency management skills and job role environment skills.
Simulation may be used for part only of this unit.
It is not necessary for the recommended improvements in utility efficiency to be complete for the purposes of this unit.
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.
The regulatory framework will be reflected in workplace policies and procedures and is not required to be independently assessed.
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.
In addition, the assessor or anyone acting in subject matter expert role in assessment must demonstrate both technical competency and currency. If the assessor cannot demonstrate technical competency and currency they must assess with a subject matter expert who does meet these requirements.
Technical competence can be demonstrated through one or more of:
relevant VET or other qualification/Statement of Attainment
appropriate workplace experience undertaking the type of work being assessed under routine and non-routine conditions
appropriate workplace experience supervising/evaluating the type of work being assessed under routine and non-routine conditions
Currency can be demonstrated through one or more of:
being currently employed undertaking the type of work being assessed
being employed by the organisation undertaking the type of work being assessed and having maintained currency in accordance with that organisation’s policies and procedures
having consulted/had contact with an organisation undertaking the type of work being assessed within the last twelve months, the consultation/contact being related to assessment
conducting on-the-job training/assessments of the type of work being assessed
being an active member of a relevant professional body and participating in activities relevant to the assessment of this type of work.
Foundation Skills
This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills 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. | |
Regulatory framework | The latest version of all legislation, regulations, industry codes of practice and Australian/international standards, or the version specified by the local regulatory authority, must be used, and include one or more of the following: relevant Commonwealth and state/territory Environment Acts applicable state/territory environmental regulations licences and permit conditions industry codes of practice and guidelines Australian and other standards environmental treaties and conventions national environmental policies, strategies and initiatives, such as the National Greenhouse Strategy and National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development National Pollutant Inventory State of the Environment Reports Industry Association Commitments (e.g. The Global Mining Initiative) health and safety legislation, codes of practice and guidance material legislative requirements, including work health and safety (WHS) environmental regulations and guidelines licence and certification requirements All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment (HSE) requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence. |
Procedures | All operations must be performed in accordance with relevant procedures. Procedures are written, verbal, visual, computer-based or in some other form, include one or more of the following: emergency procedures work instructions standard operating procedures (SOPs) safe work method statements (SWMS) formulas/recipes batch sheets temporary instructions any similar instructions provided for the smooth running of the plant |
Sources of information | Sources of information include one or more of the following: organisation goals, commitments and procedures (e.g. business/strategic plans, voluntary environmental agreements entered into with external organisations/authorities, and organisation policies and procedures) regulatory framework consultation with internal and external stakeholders own knowledge and experience of plant/process technical/operational documentation schematic (e.g. piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) and process flow diagrams (PFDs)) available research/data (e.g. industry benchmarking data/systems and sustainability performance measures/metrics) |
Performance benchmarks | Performance benchmarks and targets include one or more of the following: best practice or industry codes for the industry/sector levels of performance expected of organisation sectors and/or the organisation as a whole |
Stakeholders | Stakeholders include one or more of the following: board members, financial backers and owners all members of the organisation, including management and staff members suppliers contractors others acting on the organisation's behalf customers external individuals or bodies who may have an interest in or may be affected by the organisation |
Continuous improvement and innovation policies | Continuous improvement and innovation policies include one or more of the following: consistent reviewing activities in search of a better way improving the organisation in all aspects of its operation and may look at life cycle impacts of the organisation, including: activities and products are designed to minimise life cycle impacts and maximise opportunities tendering and purchasing processes that include life cycle criteria product design and manufacture packaging policies product use and disposal vehicle policies that include use of cleaner fuels or alternative energy sources and regular servicing intervals to reduce pollution and improve efficiency |
Environmental sustainability | Environmental sustainability may be influenced by one or more of the following: the organisational culture and operations internal or external economic climate political climate market focus/considerations environmental impacts of the business operation |
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