Ipswich City Council, Depot EMPs
Project details
Client: Ipswich City Council
Location: Yamanto Depot, Riverview Depot and Thorn Street Depot
Industry: Local council
Business Services Provided: Environmental Management Plan, training PowerPoint and site audit for 3 Council Depot sites (Yamanto Depot, Riverview Depot and Thorn Street Depot)
Summary
Cowie were engaged by Ipswich City Council (ICC) to undertake a review of their environmental management systems and prepare operational environmental management plans (EMP) and a training modules for 3 of Councils depot sites. The sites included Councils Thorn Street Depot, Yamanto Depot and Riverview Depot. Initially a review of all of ICC available environmental documentation was undertaken and a gap analysis was undertaken to determine the requirements for the sites. A site inspection was then undertaken and an operational EMP prepared outlining the requirements for environmental management at the sites in line with current legislative requirements and industry best practice, with further identification of areas where ICC required new policies, procedures and management actions implemented. Following this assessment a training PowerPoint was prepared for each site to educate site workers on the basic environmental management requirements. The project culminated in a site inspection and audit/recommendations report for each site to identify any remaining areas of concern along with recommendations for improvements to ensure ICC were meeting their general environmental duty of care and legal requirements.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
Environmental Scientist
This role was the lead for the project and responsible for overseeing the project timeline, organising site meetings, client liaison and preparation of initial reports, along with review of graduate work.
- Preparation of EMP and audit reports
- Review of all graduate documents
- Site audit and client liaison
- Preparation of training modules
- Assistance and education of graduate environmental scientist.
Graduate Environmental Scientist
This role was responsible for assisting the environmental scientist with report writing and shadowed the site audits to increase their knowledge and understanding on EMPs, site operations and audit processes.
Points relevant to role
- Assisted with site inspections and audits including taking photos
- Assisted with writing reports.
Key Outcomes
- The graduate environmental scientist gained valuable knowledge and firsthand experience in site inspections, audits, report/EMP writing and project management.
- The client came away with an in depth understanding of their environmental requirements and short falls with a detailed summary of further requirements they need to fulfil.
- This project has future potential work in the form of creating further environmental policies and procedures for Council or undertaking the same process for additional depot sites.