Kate Filippin  (Principal Risk Consultant) and Belinda Beale  (Risk Consultant) have developed a white paper regarding the Victoria Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018 (which will take effect from 1 July 2021). Under this new ‘General Environmental Duty’, the environmental regulator, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), can act against organisations deemed to have inadequate environmental risk management systems, without any environmental harm being done.

Organisations will be required to develop and document a Risk Management and Monitoring Plan (RMMP). Organisations that already comply with ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, will have a basic risk assessment approach that may be used as part of the RMMP.  However, for organisations with environmental aspects posing a high risk to the environment, a more thorough risk management approach, and demonstration of the adequacy of controls, is required.

R4Risk recommends using process risk management techniques, such as Hazard Identification (HAZID) and bowtie analysis be used in the development of the RMMP for environmental hazards.

For more information on this, please download the white paper below.