Common Business Unit

BSBSUS201 Participate in environmentally sustainable

work practices
Assessment Task (2 of 2)

Student Name: XXXXXX

Student Number: XXXXXX

Assessment Number: 30783B/02

Part 1 - Environmental Hazards

1. a) In the table below, enter five resources that you use in your own
workplace that are specific to your role. If you don’t have a workplace,
enter the resources that you use at home.
Resource
1 Water
2 Gas
3 Lights
4 Computer
5 Portable heater/Aircon

b) Using the environmental survey below survey at least two employees

(from separate workplaces) about potential environmental issues or
hazards in their workplace. These can be current work colleagues or you
can survey family or friends in relation to their workplace. You will need
to survey different people in different workplaces to gain a wider
perspective in workplace environmental issues.

Environmental survey

Questions Person 1 Person 2

Lights left on Yes Yes
Computers left on after hours No Yes
Dripping taps No No
Ill-fitting or broken doors/windows letting in cold/hot Yes No
air
Single-sided copying Yes No
Over-packaging Yes Yes
Broken toilets constantly running No No
Rooms heated and lit when not in use Yes Yes
Air conditioning and waste disposal systems Yes Yes
Printing all emails No No
Incorrect printing/copying Yes Yes
Waste paper around photocopier areas Yes Yes
Other wastes or inefficiencies (please elaborate) Water Old
spilled computer
around desks
water with no
dispenser slide out
tray for
keyboard
Are any of these, or other issues, an environmental Yes No
hazard or environmental efficiency issue?
Do any of these, or other issues, pose a health and Yes Yes
safety threat to customers or employees?
2. Determine at least one workplace environmental hazard from your
survey above. Follow workplace policies and procedures to document
and report the hazard by completing the “Environmental Hazard Report”
template below.

Environmental Hazard report:

Name of person reporting: Ashten Hosking

Description of hazard/issue: Kitchen dispenser drops water whenever
used, which spills around the surrounding kitchen floor area.
Date of hazard/issue discovered: 26/05/2018
Time of incident: 10:00 AM
Location of hazard/issue: Kitchen and Food Area
Address: ABC Center Pty Ltd

Type of hazard/issue:

● Excessive waste of resource

● Environmental system not being used effectively/appropriately
● Damage to an item
● Change to work practices required

Hazard/issue details: The dispenser placed in the kitchen area is used by

employees everyday. A 10 litre bottle is changed every other day on the
dispenser. Whenever the dispenser is used, it spills a small stream of water.
The water gets collected in a tray placed below the dispenser tap, which
usually gets filled up after it is used approximately 20 times. If someone
does not throw away the water from the tray, it starts to spill in the
surrounding area. The floor is not carpeted, so the water is sometimes seen
throughout the kitchen area.

Name/s of person/s affected: Everyone using the kitchen is affected by

this issue.
Employment status:

Employee Contractor Site visitor

Details of impact on people (where applicable): Office staff uses this

dispenser almost everyday. People wear different types of shoes to the
office and it is highly likely that their shoes are not compatible to protect
them from falls. This is very dangerous as one sudden movement beside
the spill area is going to cause a lot of harm. Slippery Wet surfaces cause
slips. Many victims are female (Health and Safety Authority, 2018).

Details of health and safety concerns (where applicable):

Following are the concerns surrounding this hazard:
According to (Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, 2016) More
serious slips or trips together with the resulting falls may result in:
● sprains or strains
● broken bones when trying to break the fall
● a back injury due to the sudden and forceful impact during a fall
● burns if it occurs near hot surfaces or if the person is handling hot
fluids
● cuts if it occurs near sharp objects.
Alse, rearward falls produce injuries to the head and back (University of
Rochester, 2013).

Completed by:

Name: Ashten Hosking

Signature:
Date: 27/05/2018

Reported to:

Name: Jane Smith

Position: Manager
Date: 27/05/2018
Compliance details:

Name of workplace reporting procedures: SafeWork NSW (SafeWork

NSW, 2018)
Name legislation, regulations and/or codes of practice relevant to
reporting this hazard/issue:
● Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
● Water Management Act 2000 (Water NSW, n.d.)
● Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011
○ Regulation 44-47 (SafeWork NSW, 2011)
○ Regulation 34–38 (SafeWork NSW, 2016)
Part 2 - Measuring resource efficiency

1. Select two or more environmental and/or resource efficiency issues that

can occur in your workplace or a workplace you are familiar with (or
simulated environment).
a. water
b. electricity
c. gas

2. Identify an accurate method of measuring usage of each resource. E.g.,

electricity usage can be measured using a meter on the premises.

Water
Water is measured using the meters located on the footpaths outside
properties. They are usually 1000 mm inside the front property boundary
and 600 mm from the left or right of the property boundary (Sydney Water,
2018A).
all the meters have a set of black and red numbers. The black numbers
depict the kilolitre water usage and the red ones show litres. We only need
the black numbers to calculate water use (Sydney Water, 2018B).

Electricity
Electricity meters are located on a seperate place inside the premises,
whose access is only available to the agent or landlord. The standard
measure of electricity consumption is the amount of watts expended over
the period of one hour, which is also known as a watt-hour (Origin Energy,
2016).

Gas
Gas meters are also located on premises and usually on the particular floor
(if the premise is a building). They are read by recording the numbers from
left to right, ignoring the red digits (these are used for testing only) (Alinta
Energy, 2018).
 3. Complete a simple environmental monitoring activity by measuring the
daily usage of the key resources for a period of five days. Record the
daily amounts and totals in the environmental monitoring table below:

Resource monitoring table

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Resource 1 326 litres 465 litres 300 litres 489 litres 512 litres
e.g. water 1356.770 1357.235 1357.535 1358.024 1358.536

Resource 2 17.3 kWh 16 kWh 18.1 kWh 17 kWh 19 kWh

e.g. electricity 54825 kWh 54941 kWh 55169 kWh 55276 kWh 55394 kWh

Resource 3 15.4 m3 18.1 m3 17.7 m3 13.4 m3 15.8 m3

e.g. gas 38924 m3 39043 m3 39167 m3 39284 m3 39407 m3
Part 3 – Workplace improvements

1. Using information gathered about resources in Activity 2, develop at least

two improvements that can be made at the workplace. The
improvements must relate to reducing resource use or waste and or
workplace hazards. You are required to complete a workplace document
to suggest improvements.

Improvements in the workplace

Procedure, work task or area for improvement: Water Usage

Specific problem (hazard, resource use or waste) that will be improved:
Wastage of water needs to be improved
Description of improvements:
Improvement 1:
The first improvement that could be made is by installing rainwater tanks and
water-saving devices (Australian Government Business, 2017).
Improvement 2:
Indoor water usage should be saved which includes saving water in food
services, faucets, toilets and urinals (Ministry of Water and Irrigation, n.d.)
Description of how the improvements will contribute to workplace
sustainability:
Improvement 1:
If rainwater tank is installed for the office, then first of all the workplace is going
to reduce massively on the wastage of water everyday. This is environmentally
sustainable as this water can be used for services except drinking water.
Improvement 2:
By using improvement 1, the workplace can replace water usage in toilets,
faucets and urinals to the water from the rainwater tanks. Thus it will help save
water from local council services which can then be used for drinking and food
services only.
Description of how the improvements support workplace policies/
procedures, objectives or work plans:
The improvements listed above are going to save almost 50% of the council’s
drinking water. This is important as the workplace have a policy of reducing
water wastage to 20% every two months. The rainwater which is actually of no
use and gets down drains will be used in toilets, faucets and urinals will help
the workplace achieve this goal.
 2. Present your suggestions for improvements in writing, or in a meeting,
with your supervisor/work team. Work with your supervisor, relevant
employee or work team to determine how you will implement the
changes and any necessary modifications to improvements. If you are
not currently in a workplace this task can be simulated with a volunteer,
such as friend or family member. Record results of this step in the
Improvements in the Workplace template.

Improvements in the workplace

Participant/s in discussion:
● Supervisor
● Work Team
How you will implement changes:
In order to save water wastage, the following efforts could be made:
● Install reminder signs in your kitchen and bathroom areas to remind staff and
customers to use water wisely (Environment Victoria, 2010).
● Install water-efficient taps with an aerator or flow restrictor to use less water
(Business Queensland, 2016).
● Replace single-flush toilets with dual-flush toilets (Business Queensland,
2016).
● Use left over drinking water from meetings to water a plant (Sustainability
Victoria, 2011)
References

Business Queensland (2016), Saving water in your workplace, Viewed 27 May, 2018,
from <https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/environment/saving-
water/workplace>.

Environment Victoria (2010), Be a water smart workplace, Viewed 27 May, 2018,

from <https://environmentvictoria.org.au/resource/water-smart-workplace/>.

Health and Safety Authority (2018), Factors in Slips, Trips and Falls on the Same
Level, Viewed 26 May, 2018, from
<http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Slips_Trips_Falls/Slips_Trips_Falls_Info/Causes/>.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (2016), Slips, trips and falls prevention,
Viewed 26 May, 2018, from
<https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/82868/slips_trips_f
alls_guide.pdf>.

University of Rochester (2013), Environmental Health & Safety, Viewed 26 May,

2018, from <https://www.safety.rochester.edu/safetyinfo/wetfloors.pdf>.

Water NSW (n.d.), Law and policy, Viewed 26 May, 2018, from
<http://www.water.nsw.gov.au/water-management/law-and-policy>.

SafeWork NSW (2011), CODE OF PRACTICE HOW TO MANAGE WORK HEALTH

AND SAFETY RISKS, Viewed 26 May, 2018, from
<http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/50070/SW08827-
Code-of-practice-How-to-manage-work-health-and-safety-risks.pdf>.

SafeWork NSW (2016), CODE OF PRACTICE MANAGING THE RISK OF FALLS AT

WORKPLACES, Viewed 26 May, 2018, from
<http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/50076/SW08159-
Code-of-Practice-Managing-the-risk-of-falls-at-workplaces.pdf>.

SafeWork NSW (2018), About Us, Viewed 26 May, 2018, from

<http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/about-us>.

Sydney Water (2018A), Water meter installation guide, Viewed 27 May, 2018, from
<http://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/groups/publicwebcontent/documents/docu
ment/zgrf/mdq3/~edisp/dd_047502.pdf>.

Sydney Water (2018B), Calculate your water use charge, Viewed 27 May, 2018, from
<https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/your-home/moving--renovating---
building/buying--selling-or-moving/calculate-water-use/calculate-water-usage-
charge/index.htm>.

Origin Energy (2016), How electricity is measured, Viewed 27 May, 2018, from
<https://www.originenergy.com.au/blog/about-energy/how-electricity-is-
measured.html>.

Sustainability Victoria (2011), Simple changes to make your workplace Resource

smart: Save water, Sustainability Victoria: Melbourne Water.
Australian Government Business (2017), Tips for saving water in your workplace,
Viewed 27 May, 2018, from <https://www.business.gov.au/info/run/water-
management/tips-for-saving-water-in-your-workplace>.

Alinta Energy (2018), How Do I Read My Gas Meter?, Viewed 27 May, 2018, from
<https://www.alintaenergy.com.au/energise/natural-gas/how-do-i-read-my-gas-
meter>.

Ministry of Water and Irrigation (n.d.), Office Buildings Water Efficiency Guide,
Viewed 27 May, 2018, from <http://www.mwi.gov.jo/sites/en-
us/Best%20Managment%20Practices/Office%20Buildings%20Water%20Efficienc
y%20Guide.pdf>.