Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
The purpose of this code of practice is to establish appropriate standards for operators and
service providers within the fertilizer industry when handling fertilizer products in public areas
and company storages. The fertilizer industry recognises its obligations to comply with
legislative requirements and to eliminate as far as practicable the hazards resulting from the
transport, storage and associated handling of fertilizer products.
Industry participants also need to be aware of other obligations and associated Fertilizer
Australia codes of practice including DoA Biosecurity requirements, Fertilizer Australia
Security code of practice and Fertilizer Australia Purchasing code of practice which may be
applicable to a particular operation.
Fertilizer Australia members are committed to complying with the codes of practice as a
condition of membership. Members who store, transport or physically handle fertilizer
products should implement this code of practice. Where members use third parties to store,
transport, or physically handle fertilizer products, then implementation of the codes of
practice by the third party should be part of the contractual arrangements.
Where applicable, members should ensure that the code of practice is adopted by their
supply chain partners.
The code of practice is publicly available so that all participants in the industry can have
access to this resource.
2. Scope
The code of practice covers all types of fertilizers, including solids and liquid formulations,
and both bulk and packaged products.
The primary focus of the code of practice is management of product loss and the associated
environmental hazards; it should be used in addition to procedures to manage cross
contamination (i.e. contamination of agricultural produce resulting from fertilizer treatments
eg. flutriafol and occupational health and safety issues.
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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This code covers workplaces that transport, store and handle fertilizers, including bulk port
facilities, major supply warehouses and up country storages.
3. Interpretations
3.1. This document is drafted to establish a risk assessment approach which will
help achieve the required standards of applicable legislation, and should not be
construed in any way to circumvent or replace these laws.
3.2. The code has been written with specific reference to the fertilizer industry, but
may also be applicable to other industries with similar storage hazards.
4. Implementation
The code of practice provides a risk assessment and treatment approach to managing
issues associated with loss of product containment. As each worksite is different, the code
of practice should be used to develop a risk management plan appropriate to the worksite.
The risk management plan should be documented and include procedures to manage and
monitor consistent implementation.
The Fertilizer Australia document Cracking the Nutrient Code provides details on the key
components of a risk management plan. These include:
1. Know what to look for: Awareness of all potential nutrient risk categories i.e. leach, load,
run and blow.
2. Evaluate current activities: Given an understanding of the potential nutrient management
risks, thinking about current practices helps to focus in on key risks and improvement
opportunities.
3. Consider the environmental context: take stock of the environment in and around the
storage area to identify those places potentially impacted by fertilizers practices e.g.
groundwater, waterways, soils, neighbors, native fauna and flora and air.
4. Prioritize risks: Having identified risks associated with current activities and their
environmental context, evaluate the importance of each of these risks. Clearly high and
very high risk categories need to be given management priority.
5. Identify best management practices: Best management practices need to be identified
and in some cased developed to minimise these risks.
6. Foster continuous improvement: Implement the four steps of Plan, Do, Measure and
Improve.
7. Identify appropriate management tools: Management tools are techniques and
technologies which enable both the implementation and the monitoring of best
management practices e.g. water, air and soil sampling and analysis.
Appendix 1 summarizes the typical activities and their associated hazards, product loss risks
and control options for a range of operations including fertilizer port operations, transport
and storage. This may be useful in developing individual site risk management plans.
Simple check lists can be a useful tool in implementing risk management procedures and
ensuring compliance.
Each site risk management plan should be reviewed at regular intervals and whenever
changes are made to the systems or procedures in use.
Fertilizer Australia Incorporated
Status:
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Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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Bulk ship
berths
On initial entry, trucks
checked for cleanliness.
Crane and/or self
discharge operations
conducted
Hopper operation
and truck loading
Truck tarping
For each of these activities a number of controls must be set to ensure that vehicles:
are in fit condition to be loaded;
are loaded within legal weight requirements; and
have loads fully secured and covered.
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10-12-2016
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The generalized procedure for receival of bulk liquid fertilizer is illustrated below.
Driver receives delivery instructions
including weighing if appropriate
Status:
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10-12-2016
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Distribution site activities should be designed to receive and dispatch bulk vehicles in an
efficient and safe manner ensuring that empty vehicles are fully discharged and loaded
vehicles have tailgates, tarpaulins fully in place and valves and vents closed before
departure.
Fertilizer Australia Incorporated
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
Page 8 of 21
For each of these activities, a number of controls must be set to ensure that bulk storage
device, handling equipment and vehicles:
are fit for purpose
are in sound operating condition with minimal potential for product loss or
degradation;
have appropriate guarding in place around moving parts
are operated / loaded within specification / legal requirements; and
loads have been fully secured and covered.
6. Bulk fertilizer operations Critical Control Points
Each site should make an assessment of where risks of product loss could occur. These are
areas where sites should establish critical control points where actions should be targeted
to minimise the risk of losses and to detect and rectify losses that may occur. Examples of
common critical control points are listed below, however sites may also have specific issues
not listed which should also be identified.
6.1. Port Operations
Grabbing off ship
Overfilled grabs
Overspill when emptying grab into hopper
Excavator / bobcats when lifted into / out of ship hatches
Hopper operations spills to roadway and truck body
Spill on to truck cabin, tarps or chassis
Spills to the waterway
Over filled trucks
Leaking hopper discharge valves
General wharf hygiene
Over filled trucks
Tipping in tip-off bays - fertilizer build up on chassis
Overfill caught on tarps
Weighbridge
Over loaded trucks
Vehicle leaks
Tarpaulins damaged or not in place
6.2. Port to Store transit
Tailgate leaks
Tarpaulin not in place or leaking
Spill from tarp
Spill from body of truck
Spills from rough road surfaces
Spills from corners and roundabouts on route
6.3 Bulk Solid Unloading Operations
Truck tipping with axles covered by fertilizer pile
Sufficient capacity in the bulk storage space to take the load
Bulk storage space loss of containment
Fertilizer Australia Incorporated
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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Adopted
10-12-2014
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Traffic management route between Port and store that minimizes sharp turns,
round-abouts and stop / starts
7.2
Transport Operators
Transport companies engaged for bulk transport operations must ensure that they
take all reasonable steps to prevent the spillage of fertilizer onto roadways. The
following conditions and activities should be put into operation as part of their chain
of responsibility.
Trucks suitable to task, all grain doors and tailgates with effective seals
Staff and contractors engaged for 12 months or longer are Fertcare Level A
trained (Product Knowledge and Transport), licensed and competent truck
drivers. Casual staff who do not provide advice to end-users must be managed
by a Fertcare trained supervisor and be briefed by the supervisor about the
environment, food safety and OH&S risks associated with fertilizers.
Following site rules / and road rules traveling over rumble ropes
Tarp all loads before leaving sites
Travelling agreed route during shipping activity
Undertaking appropriate site inductions
Training in this code of practice
Not clean out truck bins on the side of public road
Reporting spills and incidents
Private operators have the same responsibilities as company engaged transport
companies.
7.3
Status:
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10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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7.4
7.5
Spill Clean Up
Site managers and transport operators should have procedures in place to
effectively clean up any identified spills and dispose of all waste in an approved
manner.
Fertilizer Australia Incorporated
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
Page 12 of 21
8 Training
The employer must ensure that workers are either sufficiently experienced to do their work
safely and without harm to the environment or supervised by an experienced person. In
addition, the worker must be provided with adequate information and training in the safe and
appropriate use of equipment in the workplace, including hazards in the workplace, personal
protective equipment and safe systems of work. Information and training on the hazards
associated with the storage of fertilizer and the controls to be implemented shall be provided
to workers.
9 Cross Contamination & treated fertilizer handling
9.1Transport and handling equipment
Bulk trucks, handling equipment and storage vessels e.g. silos are sometimes used for both
food (e.g. grain) and fertilizer. Fertilizer is sometimes treated with other chemicals such as
fungicides which can be a potential source of unacceptable pesticide residue in farm
produce. Cross contamination events regularly occur throughout Australia and are a major
risk to market access for grain growers if unacceptable residues are detected.
Dedicated transport, handling and storage equipment for treated fertilizer is ideal. If this is
not achievable, attention needs to be paid to equipment hygiene when changing between
product (e.g. fertilizer to grain) even for non-treated fertilizer. The goal of cleaning is to
remove any fertilizer dust or chemical residues.
Please refer to the product label for specific guidance on individual pesticides or products
used to treat fertilizer. In the absence of specific hygiene guidance, two methods of cleaning
are suggested:
Sweeping or using compressed air followed by washing. The addition of Truck Wash
to water may assist with removal of residues. This is the preferred option for grain
transport and storage equipment; otherwise
Compressed air by itself as an absolute minimum.
Note that just sweeping with a broom or compressed air by itself is unlikely to adequately
remove fertilizer dust and chemical residues to the extent that thorough wash-down with
water achieves.
When such clean down procedures are followed, take care to dispose of rinsate / dust in an
approved manner.
For more information refer to the GRDC Grain Marketing and Pesticide Residues Fact Sheet
(July 2014).
9.2 Blending equipment
Consider potential cross contaminate issues with blending and handling equipment used
to treat fertilizer with pesticides / other chemicals. Could the next non treated fertilizer
batch contain the previous pesticide and be used on a non-target (off label) crop / stock
feed? Are appropriate clean down and waste disposal procedures in place?
Status:
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Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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HAZARD
Port Operations
Crane operation - Grabbing fertilizer
from ship.
Trained and competent operators to prevent over flow and over filling
equipment.
Spill to roadway.
Spill to waterway.
Trained and competent operators to prevent over flow and over filling
equipment.
Vehicle leaks.
Calibrated equipment.
Rumble ropes positioned for trucks to travel over before they leave the
port.
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
HAZARD
Tailgate leaks.
Tarpaulin not in place or leaking.
Traffic management route between Port and store that minimizes sharp
turns, round-abouts and stop / starts.
Direct trucks over rumble strips and / or cattle grates to shake off loose
product.
Clean under rumble strips and cattle grates to eliminate residue tracking.
Trucks departing store take the longest route before entering public
roads.
Residue tracking.
Status:
Date:
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Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
HAZARD
Where practical, loose fertilizer is removed from truck prior leaving the
tipping point.
Trucks fitted with rubber cover strips across rear to prevent product build
up on axles and chassis.
Direct trucks over rumble strips and / or cattle grates to shake off loose
product.
Clean under rumble strips and cattle grates to eliminate residue tracking.
Trucks departing store take the longest route before entering public
roads.
Source tip friendly trucks.
Site staff supervise truck drivers throughout tipping process.
Correct load distribution prior to unloading.
Ensure area where tipping takes place is level.
Minimize time product is in the truck to reduce potential for product hang
ups.
Correct positioning of the tipping truck relative to the catching tray / bin.
Appropriate control of the flow rate from the truck to the catching tray /
bin.
Spills are contained and cleaned up.
Choose appropriate equipment to minimize dust generation.
Conditions at the time of unloading e.g. wind direction and strength.
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
Filling of the bulk solids storage
space e.g. storage bay, silo etc.
HAZARD
Residue tracking.
Status:
Date:
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Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
HAZARD
Overfilled bin.
Overfilled truck.
General site handling area hygiene.
Truck weighing.
Calibrated equipment.
Status:
Date:
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Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
HAZARD
Hose bursts.
allowing loss of
waterways
and
Residue tracking.
Status:
Date:
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Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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ACTIVITY
Bulk
Liquid
Operations
HAZARD
Dispatch
Hose bursts.
Truck weighing.
Calibrated equipment.
Valves and vents inspected for leaks.
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
Page 20 of 21
ACTIVITY
HAZARD
Packaged
(palletized)
Fertilizer Unloading
Truck unloading
operations
and
loading
Unstable loads
Status:
Date:
Review Date:
Adopted
10-12-2014
10-12-2016
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