Unit of competency
Modification History
Release 1. Supersedes and is equivalent to MSS027001A Coordinate environmental management activities
Application
This unit of competency covers the ability to coordinate environmental management activities at a site, or within a project, to ensure compliance with relevant legislation, regulations, permits and/or licences. Personnel are required to interpret and explain environmental management policies, plans and procedures to other personnel and apply them to a wide range of activities. This includes recognising potential/actual environmental impacts of current and planned work/recreational activities, implementing and monitoring appropriate preventative and corrective actions to minimise harm to the environment, coordinating response to incidents, liaising with the site personnel and stakeholders, and providing site/project reports. Personnel work under the supervision of an environmental scientist or engineer, site manager or workplace environmental manager.
This unit of competency is applicable to environmental site coordinators, environmental managers and senior environmental officers working in all industry sectors. Note that the term ‘manager’ is used to refer to management of a function, project and/or program and does not necessarily imply line management.
While no specific licensing or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication, environmental monitoring and management activities are governed by relevant legislation, regulations and/or external accreditation requirements. Local requirements should be checked.
Pre-requisite Unit
Nil
Competency Field
Management
Unit Sector
Environmental
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. |
Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
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1 |
Confirm environmental management responsibilities |
1.1 |
Interpret legislative, regulatory and licensing requirements and approvals that apply to site/project. |
1.2 |
Clarify own scope of responsibility/authority for achieving specific environmental outcomes for site/project and the roles of other key personnel. |
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1.3 |
Identify resources available to implement environmental management policies and plans for site/project. |
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2 |
Develop and maintain positive relations with site personnel and stakeholders |
2.1 |
Identify significant stakeholders, their relationship to the workplace and position or perceived attitudes about the site/project. |
2.2 |
Participate in meetings and networks to obtain/maintain knowledge about stakeholders, their representatives and their issues. |
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2.3 |
Use appropriate strategies to foster the trust and confidence of site personnel and stakeholder representatives. |
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2.4 |
Communicate workplace positions/requirements in a way that acknowledges concerns of personnel/stakeholders and promotes understanding. |
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2.5 |
Respond to requests for information or participation in stakeholder activities in accordance with workplace procedures. |
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2.6 |
Provide timely, authorised information using language, styles and formats that are readily understood. |
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2.7 |
Identify difficult situations and negotiate solutions by using a collaborative approach and harnessing cooperation (within scope of responsibility). |
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2.8 |
Obtain regular feedback and use it to maintain and enhance positive relations. |
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3 |
Provide environmental management information and training |
3.1 |
Use environmental management plans and recent incident reports to identify/review information and training needs of site personnel. |
3.2 |
Access, or develop, information and training programs to meet the identified needs. |
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3.3 |
Provide accessible information and training programs to ensure that all site personnel understand their environmental obligations/responsibilities. |
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3.4 |
Confirm site personnel’s understanding of environmental management actions specified for specific work areas and activities. |
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3.5 |
Monitor the effectiveness of information and training and adjust content, format and delivery strategies, as appropriate. |
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4 |
Assess environmental impacts and risks |
4.1 |
Review scheduled activities well in advance to identify implications for environmental management. |
4.2 |
Identify potential/actual events, risks and activities that may cause/have caused harm to the environment. |
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4.3 |
Conduct inspections and in-situ measurements to quantify risks and impacts. |
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4.4 |
Report assessment of risks and impacts in accordance with workplace/legislative requirements. |
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5 |
Ensure environmental monitoring and management plans are implemented |
5.1 |
Conduct specified environmental monitoring and site inspections to check performance against environmental management requirements. |
5.2 |
Ensure that workplace environmental monitoring instruments are fully functioning and maintained appropriately. |
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5.3 |
Conduct additional monitoring/inspections after atypical events, legitimate complaints or government requests to assess whether environmental management plan is operating effectively. |
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5.4 |
Examine results of in-situ measurements, laboratory analyses, inspections and audits to identify significant trends, non-conformance and/or incidents. |
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6 |
Respond to environmental non-conformances and incidents |
6.1 |
Recognise unusual situations, unexpected risks/hazards and potential/actual environmental incidents. |
6.2 |
Implement workplace procedures for responding to environmental non-conformance and incidents to ensure prompt control and remediation. |
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6.3 |
Investigate the causes of non-conformances and incidents within scope of responsibility and in accordance with workplace/legislative requirements. |
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6.4 |
Analyse findings to identify opportunities to re-design activities, work practices, environmental controls, information/training programs and/or management procedures. |
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6.5 |
Implement authorised corrective/preventative actions to prevent recurrence of non-conformance/incident and to reduce risks. |
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6.6 |
Record all recommendations, actions and outcomes in accordance with the workplace/legislative requirements. |
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7 |
Keep management informed about environmental performance |
7.1 |
Provide regular reports about environmental performance, instances of potential/actual non-conformance and incidents and the actions taken in each case. |
7.2 |
Report opportunities and recommendations for improvements in accordance with workplace procedures. |
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7.3 |
Seek manager’s advice when challenges are beyond own scope of responsibility/technical competence or when input from environmental specialists may be required. |
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8 |
Maintain environmental records |
8.1 |
Ensure all required records are legible, accurate and satisfy workplace/legislative requirements. |
8.2 |
Store environmental records to enable easy access and review by authorised personnel according to workplace procedures. |
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8.3 |
Regularly review and assess environmental records to identify significant trends and impacts. |
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8.4 |
Identify any problems with the maintenance and security of records and resolve them promptly. |
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 of Conditions
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. |
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Legislation, regulations, standards, codes, workplace procedures and requirements include the latest version of one or more of: |
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Environmental information and training include one or more of: |
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Provision of environmental information and training includes one or more of: |
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Site personnel and stakeholders include one or more of: |
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Reports include one or more of: |
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Site/project records include one or more of: |
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Environmental issues and incidents include one or more of: |
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WHS requirements include: |
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Unit Mapping Information
Release 1. Supersedes and is equivalent to MSS027001A Coordinate environmental management activities
Links
Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=5b04f318-804f-4dc0-9463-c3fb9a3fe998