�������������������������� What are some of the chemicals you most commonly use at work? NOTE TO FACILITATOR New topic: Chemicals The purpose of this activity is to frame the discussion around the herbicides that the participants are familiar with and use on a regular basis. GROUP ACTIVITY (briefly, with the whole group) “What are the most common chemicals you use at your work?” Ask the participants to name the chemicals and what they are used for. The most commonly used herbicide will be glyphosate based. Find out if anyone uses the glyphosate suitable for aquatic environments. A range of specialist chemicals may also be used by greenkeeping and horticultural staff. Make note of other the chemicals used: Petrol Solvents Cleaning materials ��
����������������+������������ ������������ Herbicides and Pesticides • Pollute water • Kill or harm animals or plants • Harm yourself or workmates ��� �� ���������� ��� �� ���������� Other chemicals ������ �������� ������ �������� • Fuel ����������������� ����������������� ������������� ������������� • Paints and oils ������������ ������������ • Cleaning solvents ����������� ����������� NOTE TO FACILITATOR Briefly go through each point individually. There are many ways that chemicals can cause harm to the environment: Herbicides and Pesticides • Pollute water – spills, spray drift, washing down drains • Kill or harm animals or plants – direct contact, indirect contact • Harm yourself or workmates – OH&S laws apply Other chemicals • Fuel – leakage and spills are common (chemicals such as fuel can be just as damaging to the environment as pesticides and require the same level of care and management!) • Paints and oils – often transported or used on site • Cleaning solvents – also highly toxic ��
�������������������� Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 Penalties are very strong • Penalties up to $5 million for companies • Penalties up to $1 million for individuals • Can include gaol time! Enforcement is based on the concept of “Due Diligence” NOTE TO FACILITATOR Reinforce the powers of the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations Act (POEO Act). Because Council is seen by the community as one of the enforcers of legislation, there is high community expectation of council to also comply. Even though different sections of council are responsible for enforcement, to the community they are one and the same organisation. To introduce the concept of “Due Diligence” relate it to ‘duty of care’ with OH&S requirements. The concept of “due diligence” will be explained in the next few slides. PROMPT QUESTION Who here has done the ChemCert training? If they are using chemicals and not properly trained, this is something important to raise with their supervisors and managers. ��
,������������������������������ NSW Pesticides Act 1999 Must not cause injury or damage to people or non- • target species Must not possess or use unregistered pesticides • Must read (or have explained) label requirements • before use • Must follow label instructions • Must store in appropriate container with label User training compulsory for work place applications • User records must be kept • Requirement for notification plan by councils • The Pesticides Act and POEO Act have a lot of crossover, but both laws are very powerful, with big penalties. Emphasise these points: Requirements to read the label before using a chemical Discuss why – things to raise, mixing rates, safety considerations, different formulations. Requirements to be trained and qualified Must be current within the last 5 years. Importance of good record keeping and notifications Highlight the importance of good records as a defence against allegations of non- target species damage or other matters. Make sure that staff are aware of the council notification plan for their respective audiences. PROMPT QUESTIONS Ask the participants a hypothetical question: if one of them was spraying in the vicinity of a fish kill the day before it occurred, who would most likely get the blame? Council or the officer? Ask for some examples of the difficulties of notification and discuss. How aware are the participants about Council notification plans? Reinforce the need for “reasonable measures” to be taken for notification. ��
���������� Pesticide pollution case 2003 The Greenkeeper: � 250 hrs comm. service � >$50,000 legal costs Warringah Golf Club: � GUILTY TIER ONE! � $250,000 fine � $190,000 EPA costs � $50,500 clean up costs � $80,403 environmental controls TOTAL = $570,903 REAL LIFE EXAMPLE Although the case relates to a public golf course, it highlights typical issues that can occur in council operations. A tractor spray unit was dismantled in a maintenance area. The spray unit contained Gusathion Turf Insecticide Liquid, a potent pesticide to kill Argentine Stem Weevils in the greens. The pesticide drained onto a concrete slab that was then hosed off. This chemical is highly toxic to fish and caused a huge fish kill (10,000 fish killed) plus the death and poisoning of numerous ducks and geese. The clean up took over one month and included removal of more than 4 tonnes of dead aquatic life. The Director General of the Environment Protection Authority (as it was called at the time) said that one teaspoon of the active ingredient in a waterbody the size of an Olympic swimming pool would destroy aquatic life in a matter of hours. The Greenkeeper was prosecuted individually and found guilty. The court found he had not exercised “due diligence” in ensuring that there were adequate protections against the potential of a spill. The Golf Club was also charged and found guilty. The club was to blame because it was responsible for taking steps to ensure its activities and staff did not harm the environment. The EPA argued that although the Greenkeeper’s actions resulted in the spill, Warringah Golf Club could have prevented the pollution. There were no bunds, or barriers or wash-down bay and no written policies or guidelines for safe handling of chemicals and no spill kit. ��
-���-�������� What can we reasonably expect people to do to protect the environment? It is everyone’s responsibility to: • to identify the potential for environmental harm • to put in place reasonable measures to manage that risk to an acceptable level NOTE TO FACILITATOR The concept of “Due Diligence” is an important take home message for this workshop. It is one of the ways of interpreting offences under the POEO Act and other environmental legislation. Reinforce to the participants that due diligence involves: • reasonable efforts to foresee problems • reasonable efforts to address potential problems AND make allowances for emergency responses. PROMPT QUESTION A topical discussion may be the recent BP oil leak in North America. What do the participants think would have been reasonable measures to prevent this disaster? Participant’s responses are likely to be that BP should have had: • Better planning • Better monitoring and response strategies • Better technology to address the problems that could have been reasonably foreseen Then put the onus back onto the participants to identify what they think are reasonable environmental impositions in their workplace. It is likely that similar issues will come up: • Adequate planning • Adequate equipment • Resources required to implement environmental protection measures • Training and skills necessary • Support from the organisation, etc Reinforce that the two situations are no different, the principle of due diligence applies no matter what the scale of the task. ��
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