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HSC Business Services - Maddison > Sustainability > Flashcards

Sustainability Flashcards

1
Q

What is the concept of sustainability in the workplace?

A

Sustainability is the ability to continue an activity for a prolonged period of time while minimising the risk to the environment.
- Triple bottom line
- CSR
- Ecological footprint

Environmentally sustainable work practices reduce harm to the environment and reduce wastage of resources.
- Reducing waste
- Repairing instead of replacing
- Using recycled materials
- Reducing operating costs

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2
Q

What are the principles of sustainability in the business services industry?

A

Acronym: EES
- Economic
- Environmental
- Social concerns

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3
Q

What are consequences of poor sustainable work practices?

A
  • Hazardous chemicals → negative effect on health
  • Rain water leaches → from landfill → harm animals (polluted water)
  • Incineration of waste → respiratory problems
  • Accidental spills
  • Water pollution → killing wildlife → harm to humans
  • Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions → impact quality of air
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4
Q

What is the meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility

A
  • Concerns impact on social systems.
  • Degrade wellbeing of future generations because operations are not socially sustainable
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5
Q

What are general features of Australian and international standards for corporate social sustainability? What is social sustainability?

A

Social sustainability occurs when the formal and informal processes, systems, structures and relationships actively support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and liveable communities.

Features:
- Provision of affordable housing
- Education
- Training and employment
- Safety and security.

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6
Q

What is the best practice sustainability models in a business services workplace?

A
  • Introducing flexible office spaces.
  • Making sustainability part of workplace culture.
  • Introducing policies to promote sustainability.
  • Building eco-friendly supply chains.
  • Becoming a green building.
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7
Q

What are benefits of sustainable work practices?

A
  • Addressing ethical obligations and responsibilities (reputation, customer loyalty, profitability and investors)
  • Compliance with legislation and regulations (avoid legal issues)
  • Positive environmental impacts
  • Reputation benefits (work culture, future generations, higher productivity)
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8
Q

What are workplace sustainability policy and procedures?

A
  • Policy and procedures recognise the impact a business has on the environment.
  • These policies and procedures could cover things like energy usage, recycling, and avoiding the use of paper.
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9
Q

What is the meaning of compliance and best of practice?

A
  • Compliance refers to the act of following a request or command.
  • Best practice refers to the most effective and accepted commercial or professional procedures.
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10
Q

What are the level of compliance in relation to environmental requirements?

A
  • Workplace
  • Industry
  • Government (local, state/territory and Commonwealth)
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11
Q

What is the purpose and intent of environmental legislation and its application to the business services industry and workplace, and specific job role?

A
  1. PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONS ACT 1997 (NSW)
    - Establishment of Protection of the Environment policies (PEPs)
    - Implementation of Integrated Environment Protection Licensing
    - Regulation of Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Activities
    - Factors to be considered when granting licenses
    - Issuing licenses with conditions and reviews
    - Integration of licensing and planning processes

(Look at study notes for further detail)

  1. CLEAN ENERGY LEGISLATION (CARBON TAX REPEAL) ACT 2014 (AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT) (AS AMENDED)
    - Removed the obligation for large businesses to report their greenhouse gas emissions under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System.
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12
Q

What is the primary role/function of regulators and key bodies involved in environmental protection?

A

○ NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
○ NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
○ Clean Energy Regulator (Cth)
○ Department of the Environment (Cth)
○ Local Councils

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13
Q

What is the primary function of the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)?

A
  • Environmental body partners with business, government and community to reduce waste and pollution, maintain human health and prevent degradation of the environment
  • Manages environmental issues and responds to pollution incidents and emergencies
  • Enforces environmental regulations related to air, water, and noise pollution, waste and resource recovery, and hazardous materials
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14
Q

What is the primary function of the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage?

A
  • Cares for and protects NSW’s environment and heritage, including the natural environment, Aboriginal country, culture and heritage, and built heritage
  • Supports the community, business, and government in protecting and making the most of a healthy environment and economy in NSW through five functional areas including national parks/wildlife services, regional operations, heritage, policy, and science
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15
Q

What is the primary function of a Clean Energy Regulator (Cth)?

A
  • Independent Statutory Authority
  • Administers carbon pricing mechanism
  • These schemes aim to reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of clean energy
  • Responsibilities: working with other law enforcement, accrediting auditors, providing education on their schemes, collecting and analysing data
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16
Q

What is the primary function of the Department of Environment (Cth)?

A

Designs and implements Australian Government policy and programs to protect and conserve the environment, water, and heritage, promote climate action, and provide adequate, reliable, and affordable energy

17
Q

What is the primary function of Local Councils?

A
  • Ensures peace, order, and good governance of its municipality through strategic planning, advocacy, representation, policy development, and law making
18
Q

What are the workplace policy and procedures relating to environmental compliance, including reporting breaches and potential breaches within the organisation/workplace and externally?

A
  • Business should reflect on its activities, concerns and priorities before writing a policy or procedure

Examples of policies and procedures for a green business (detail in textbook):
- Tracking resource use to improve efficiency
- Energy
- General purchasing
- Selection and use of office equipment
- Sustainable materials
- Water efficiency
- Reducing waste
- Purchasing (stock control)

19
Q

What are the benefits of workplace policy and procedures relating to environmental compliance?

A
  • Conserves raw materials and energy
  • Reduces incidents
  • Improves efficiency
  • Helps the business comply with legislation
  • Improves the monitoring of environmental impacts
  • Improves info on environmental roles and responsibilities to employees
20
Q

What are the consequences of failure to observe (non-compliance) environmental workplace policy and procedures and legislative requirements? Who is responsible?

A
  • The EPA is responsible for investigating and reporting non-compliance with environmental protection legislation.
  • BREACH can include an official warning letter, penalty notice or negotiation, clean-up notices, prevention notices.
  • An enforceable undertaking is a voluntary and legally binding agreement between the EPA and the individual/business that has breached environmental legislation but where the breach does not warrant prosecution.

THREE TIERS:
- Tier 1 offenses are the most serious and can result in penalties of up to $5 million and 7 years in jail.
- Tier 2 non-compliance offenses include water pollution, which can attract penalties of up to $2 million for corporations and $500,000 for individuals.
- Tier 3 offenses are dealt with by penalty notices, imposing fines that can be paid or defended in court

21
Q

Discuss a range of environmental hazards and risks typical to a business services workplace.

A
  1. Poor or inadequate lighting (productivity, eye strain, headaches).
    CORRECTION: replace lightbulbs and clean light fittings on a regular basis, install in more appropriate places and paint dark walls with lighter colours
  2. Glare (direct: sunlight or reflected: shiny surfaces), headaches, decrease vision
    CORRECTION: installing blinds, numerous small lights, diffusers over light, brightness control, removing high gloss finish surfaces
  3. Poor ventilation (carbon dioxide/pollutants accumulate) workers get sleepy, headaches and underperform. Pollutants include biological organisms, vapours from furniture, cleaning agents and photocopier and printer toners.
    CORRECTION: open windows/doors, equipment is ventilated
  4. Inadequate temperature control (hot/cold), affects productivity, comfortability
    CORRECTION: aircon is deflected away from workers
  5. Poor housekeeping (slips, trips, falls), cluttered workspaces, obstacles in corridors
    CORRECTION: identify hazards/problem, clean up, routine housekeeping as a part of their schedule
  6. Ergonomic hazards (physical factors affecting musculoskeletal system), repetitive movement, manual handling, design of workplace, incorrect work stations, poor body positioning.
    CORRECTION: well designed workplaces/job/tasks, suit individual worker
  7. Electrical hazards (burn/shock, tissue/muscles/nerves, death). Causes include ungrounded equipment, frayed cords, overloaded power points, improper placement of electrical cords, unplugged cords –> fire hazards
    CORRECTION: electrical equipment turned off, examined for problems on a regular basis, substitute
  8. Chemical hazards (cleaning products, paints, flammable aerosols, gas cylinders and fumes from printers and photocopiers), inappropriate use/storage of chemicals –> explosions/fires –> injuries/burns –> long term effects –> cancer
    CORRECTION: Chemicals must be handled and stored correctly to minimise risk and areas with printers and photocopiers well ventilated
22
Q

What are the personnel responsible for environmental hazard identification and risk control in a business services workplace?

A
  • Depends on size of business
  • Mostly employer, but every worker must be vigilant in identifying hazards to minimise harm
  • Small office: owner
  • Larger office: office manager, supervisor or HSR
  • Hazard identified –> risk assessment –> procedures to eliminate/reduce risk
  • Operating procedures revised/updated
  • Incidents reported and evaluated
23
Q

What is involved when reporting environmental hazards and risks in a business services workplace?

A
  • Hazard reported immediately
  • Acute hazard: verbally to supervisor, owner or HSR (procedures for emergency situations)
  • Less acute hazard: Complete hazard/risk report form (its nature and location)
  • Raise issue in staff meeting
24
Q

What is a resource?

A

Economic or productive factor that is used by a person or organisation to accomplish an activity or achieve a desired outcome
- Land
- Labour
- Capital
- (more in textbook)

25
Q

What are the resources used in the business services industry and in a specific job rule?

A
  • Energy (↑ electricity by wind/solar power –> reduce costs, less pollution, fewer greenhouse gas emissions
  • Equipment, technology, and associated consumables (tangible or durable assets, tech –> efficiency –> improved communication bc of boundaries –> virtual office
  • Human (skills and abilities, levels, training and experience, incentives)
  • Infrastructure (framework, structures, systems, facilities, achieve goals, efficiency, reduce costs, quality service, good communication
26
Q

Discuss the concept of resource efficiency in a business services work environment.

A
  • Recycling paper
  • Cancel junk and unwanted mail
  • Buy products with less packaging
  • Double-sided printing
  • Use unused side on paper for notes
  • Electronic communication
  • Regularly update distribution lists to avoid overproducing marketing material
  • Washrooms (increased water), dripping or leaking taps, dishwasher
27
Q

Discuss the collection and measurement of resource consumption within a business services workplace?

A
  • Businesses can measure waste, water, materials and energy
  • Methods for collecting include measuring actual consumption, observation, estimating, stocktaking and checklists

TECHNIQUES/METHODS INCLUDE:
- Document resources in work area
- Examine invoices from suppliers
- Measure resource usage under different conditions
- Monitor relevant info and data

28
Q

Discuss tools (digital and manual) to measure and document resources and their consumption.

A
  • Checklists
  • Stock control tools
  • Software (databases, spreadsheets, charts and graphs)
  • Regular checks (stock)
  • JIT (costs down, high liquidity)
  • First in, first out (perishable resources)
29
Q

What are some strategies in a sustainable manner for a specific business services workplace and job role

A
  • Avoidance and minimisation strategies (purchasing sustainable products, regular maintenance of equipment)
  • Efficient use of energy and resources (reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, alternative forms of energy/conservation, energy-efficient devices and equipment, management of environmental hazards/risks, renewable, recyclable, reusable and recoverable resources)
  • Waste management systems (reduce, re-use, recycle)

(more on textbook)

30
Q

What is the role of an environmental officer?

A
  • Assessing environmental projects
  • Evaluating the performance of projects
  • Analysing environmental matters and writing reports
  • Planning environmental related activities
  • Monitoring performance of staff
  • Securing funding
  • Liaising with the government
  • Writing budgets
31
Q

Discuss improvements for sustainable work practices, including improved resource efficiency, for the business services workplace, team and individual worker.

A
  • Consult with colleagues and management (employee initiatives –> positive impact –> economic returns)
  • Culture of healthy competition (creativity and willingness to push boundaries, rewards)
  • Areas of improvement include setting up mentoring programs, forward suggestions to supervisors, input of staff, working “smarter”, identify/manage environmental risks, reorganising the workplace, improving workplace culture
32
Q

What is involved when reporting environmental hazards and resource efficiency issues in a business services workplace?

A

SYLLABUS DOT POINTS:
Checklists, registers and logs
- Inspections, incident and accident reports
- Adhering to legislation and workplace policy

EFFECT OF PROCEDURE TO ASSIST EMPLOYER:
- Identify potential issues early
- Understand why incidents occur
- Prevent incidents
- Measure safe work procedures
- Meet legislative requirements

INFORMAL AND FORMAL REPORTING FOR REPORTING HAZARDS AND ISSUES:
- Informal (verbal): resolve issue quickly/prevent
- Formal (writing): if problem is ongoing

CONTINUAL MONITORING AND REPORTING CAN:
- Examine effectiveness of policies and procedures
- Allow policies and procedures to change
- Policies and procedures reflect changes to legislations

  • Identify hazard –> report –> noted in book/database –> hazard assessment (control strategy) –> notes made (control strategy to review effectiveness)

(more in textbook)

HSC Business Services - Maddison (4 decks)

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