C8.3 Risk Management
Environmental Risks should be managed in accordance with the hierarchy of control, often referred to as “ERIC”:
Eliminate the hazard.
Reduce the hazard.
Isolate the hazard.
Control the hazard.
Eliminate the hazard.
The most effective way of managing environmental risk is to eliminate it in the first place. This is much more effective that attempting to mitigate and environmental impact that already exists.
This may be achieved through the re-design of a product or process, potentially avoiding the need for the use of certain hazards or hazardous activities.
Reduce the hazard.
If the hazard cannot be eliminated, it should be reduced as far as possible.
This may be achieved through adjusting a process so that it requires less of a certain environmentally hazardous raw material, or so that it produces less emissions or waste.
It may also be achieved through substituting an environmentally hazardous material with a less environmental hazardous material, such as replacing paint containing VOCs with a solvent-free paint.
Isolate the hazard.
It is not always possible to eliminate or reduce an environmental hazard. In this situation the hazard may be controlled through isolation, for example, containing a fuel tank in an isolated bund.
Isolating the hazard is a more effective control than attempting to control a hazard once it is released. It is much easier to contain the contents of a storage vessel at the point where it is stored, than to protect all of the receptors from the potential hazard (i.e. a nearby watercourse, all site drains and nearby open ground.
Control the hazard.
If it is not possible to eliminate, reduce or isolate a hazard, it must be controlled. This may be achieved through activities such as regular inspection and monitoring, the provision of emergency preparedness equipment (drains covers and spill kits) or suitable containment facilities (constructing something out of a suitable material to ensure it will not leak).