Elements and Performance Criteria

Sustainability
Sustainability is used to mean the entire sustainable performance of either the organisation/plant or the process or work area depending on the context of the relevant sentence. It includes:
meeting all regulatory requirements
conforming to all relevant industry covenants, protocols and best practice guides
minimising ecological footprint of process, plant, product or work area
maximising economic benefit of process plant and product to the organisation and the community
minimising the negative OHS impact on employees, community and customer (e.g. OHS impacts of process, product and wastes)
Value chain components
Value chain components include:
all components from source through use to reuse and disposal if necessary
Interactions with the environment
Interactions with the environment may include:
drawing physical resources from the environment
releasing materials to the environment (e.g. emissions)
drawing energy from/releasing energy to the environment
Procedures
Procedures include:
all work instructions, standard operating procedures, formulas/recipes, batch sheets, temporary instructions and similar instructions provided for the smooth running of the plant
good operating practice as may be defined by industry codes of practice (e.g. good manufacturing practice (GMP) and responsible care) and government regulations
Procedures may be:
written, verbal, computer-based or in some other form
Typical problems
Typical problems will require the application of detailed operational and process knowledge over the entire production/manufacturing area, including the principles of operation of the equipment. For manufacturing areas it may include the science of the changes to materials occurring within that area and the sustainability impacts of those changes
Environmental sensitivities
Environmental sensitivities may include:
fragile areas, and rare or threatened species
heritage or cultural sensitivity issues
hazardous emissions
real or perceived overuse of scarce resources
noise
regulated emissions or other regulatory issues
community perceptions or other issues
Performance
Performance covers the process, plant and equipment performance.
Possible performance includes that performance indicated by:
historical data and records
design performance
It may also include process/takt time requirements
Sustainability issues
Sustainability issues (as relevant to the work/process area) may include:
need to reduce the carbon footprint of product and process through reduction in use of:
energy
water
raw materials
emissions
embedded carbon in transport, storage, rework and errors, inefficient processes and design
Sustainability related issues may also exist irrespective of the carbon equivalence aspects of the issue. This may include:
current and future availability of raw materials
current and future availability of energy
extent and type of waste generation and disposal
efficiency of process in terms of consumption of materials and energy regarded as in short supply or which are regarded as environmentally sensitive
the extent to which the production process, product and waste affects the environment, including effects on:
climate
quality of local air and water
ecology
noise
relationship with the local and broader community, (e.g. effect of operations on aesthetic appearance, preservation of heritage, and proximity to schools and religious facilities)
extent of regulatory oversight and extent and cost of compliance
Hazards
Hazards is used to include:
sustainability hazards
environmental hazards
health hazards
safety hazards
Data and records
Historical data and records may include:
orders, project briefs or customer specifications
hazard logs
incident reports
maintenance records
errors and non-conformance reports
production records

Overview of assessment
A person who demonstrates competency in this unit must be able to analyse current sustainability performance of a process or plant area and prepare proposals for measurable improvement in sustainability.
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Assessors must be satisfied that the candidate can competently and consistently apply the skills covered in this unit of competency in new and different situations and contexts. Critical aspects of assessment and evidence include:
analysing and evaluating current production performance, and developing and implementing plans to optimise process systems
determining sustainability impacts of current processes and products in work area
developing proposals for improvement to processes that are measurable and positively impact on sustainability.
Context of and specific resources for assessment
This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or a simulated workplace environment.
Assessment should emphasise a workplace context and procedures found in the candidate’s workplace.
This unit of competency may be assessed with other relevant units addressing sustainability at the enterprise level or other units requiring the exercise of the skills and knowledge covered by this unit.
The competencies covered by this unit would be demonstrated by an individual working alone or as part of a team.
Method of assessment
In all cases, practical assessment should be supported by questions to assess underpinning knowledge and those aspects of competency which are difficult to assess directly.
Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.
The language, literacy and numeracy demands of assessment should not be greater than those required to undertake the unit of competency in a work-like environment.
Guidance information for assessment