1.

Compliance auditing involves reviewing and checking the organisation’s systems,

processes and SOPs and how they adhere to regulatory guidelines. List three
aims of compliance auditing.
2. To assess the overall effectiveness of a business's
3. Ongoing verification
4. To ensure compliance to requirements

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 . Determine the effectiveness of the organisation’s environmental programs.
 Identify areas of non-compliance or potential exposure to risk.
 Review the work environment to see how policies, practices and SOPs comply
with relevant legislation
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 Review the work environment to see how policies, practices and SOPs comply with
relevant legislation. 
 Determine how the organisation complies with relevant Codes of Practice. 
 Identify areas of non-compliance or potential exposure to risk.

2. What sort of information should be assessed when looking at an organisation’s

resource efficiency systems and procedures?

 You can expect the following benefits for your company:

 Management of waste
 Resource repurposing
 Major undertakings

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 Internal and external benchmarks.

 Storage.
 Waste management, waste audit results.
 Water consumption.
 Purchasing systems and procedures; supplier invoices.
 Understanding where your organisation’s activities impact on the environment,
for example, life-cycle mapping.
 Energy consumption; supplier invoices and energy management tracking tools
and software.

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The first step is to understand where your business impacts on the environment and
collect data to analyse your organisation’s current resource usage. 
To help understand where your business operations impact on the environment, you
can use a ‘life-cycle mapping tool’. Life-cycle mapping can be used by any type of
business to understand the environmental impact of their operations from raw materials
to end-of-life. A life-cycle mapping exercise is best done in teams. 
Step 1 Map out all the activities that go on in your business, for example, cooking,
receiving goods, serving customers, etc. 
Step 2 Working on one activity at a time from Step 1, break down all the processes that
go into that activity. 
Step 3 Map out the potential environmental impact of each of these activities. This is
often presented on a spreadsheet or table. 
Step 4 Develop strategies to minimise potential environmental impacts identified.

3. Where can you go for help, information and assistance in collecting, monitoring and
evaluating resource usage?

 Seniors 
 Industry experts 
 Government websites

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 At local council.

 Government departments. Go to the www.australia.gov.au website for links to

state and territory services and a range of environmental sites.
 Relevant stakeholders.
 Environmental groups , rating and certification schemes and
environment standards
 Online sources, such as state and territory departments, for environmental
protection.

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You can go to the government department, another resource can be stakeholders, S

regulatory sources, organisational specifications and resource use statistics.

4.What is life-cycle mapping used for?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a term used in industry to describe the process of
managing a product's complete lifecycle, from conception to engineering design and
manufacture to service and disposal.

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The life cycle a basic yet efficient approach of demonstrating how a service supports its
customers through a certain job is lifecycle mapping. It involves looking at the environmental
impact of operations from raw materials to end-of-life. It creates a map that depicts a work's
lifecycle, including the stages within the activity, the people engaged, their options, and the
consequences of their actions.

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Is used to understand where your business activities impact on the environment.

5. What does life-cycle mapping involve? List the steps.

The steps life-cycle mapping involve are:

Step 1:Map out all the activities that go on in your business, for example, cooking,
receiving goods,serving customers, etc.

Step 2:Working on one activity at a time from Step 1, break down all the processes that
go into that activity.

Step 3:Map out the potential environmental impact of each of these activities. This is
often presented on a spreadsheet or table.

Step 4:Develop strategies to minimize potential environmental impacts identified.

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6. Steps in the data collection and analysis process for resource usage involve collecting data,
analysing data, identifying key business activities and estimating resource usage and waste
generation. What step is missing? Explain this step.

The step missing is establishing a baseline:

 Establish a baseline which means to create baseline data.

 Data should be current, i.e., no more than two years old.
 This is the data used to measure your improvements against.
  Use the baseline data to review against your two-year period data. Determine if
this represents a typical year. If it doesn't, then indicate why and estimate what a
typical year should look like.

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Establish a baseline 
• Create baseline data. This is the data you will use to measure your improvements
against. 
• Data should be current, i.e., no more than two years old. 
• Use the baseline data to review against your two-year period data. Determine if this
represents a typical year. If it doesn't, then indicate why and estimate what a typical
year should look like.

7. What is the benefit of using a data collection plan?

The benefit of using a data collection plan is that it helps to keep track of what we need to
collect, have to collect it, who should be doing it and when it gives the plan structure and clarity.

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A data collection plan will give data collection structure and clarity.

8. Outline the role of federal, state and territory legislation in environmental sustainability.

The role of Federal, State and Territory legislation is that of protecting the environment
from degrading. Australian Government’s major piece of environmental legislation which
focuses on the protection of matters of national environmental significance, such as
heritage protection and biodiversity conservation. State and territory governments are
responsible for matters of state and local significance and often involve the issuing of
environmental licences and permits for parks, heritage sites, air and water.
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It is responsible for and regulates matters including environment protection and conservation of
biodiversity.
9. What role does the local council play in environmental sustainability? Discuss.

Councils have a pivotal role in environmental management, including regulation and

education. Councils regulate local by-laws that individuals and businesses must comply
with. Some of the environmental issues they’re concerned with include rubbish removal,
illegally dumped rubbish, building planning and noise pollution. Sometimes they’re
specific to an area and other times they’re regulated on behalf of the state of
government.
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Innovation in environmental sustainability is about meeting current needs while preserving the
environment. You need to examine day to day operations for opportunities to improve the
conservation of rt of. Your department’s action, but sources and the handling of waste. This
means not only considering the immediate the long-term impact its systems and processes
have on the natural world.
10. What is the benefit of having codes of practice?

The main purpose of the conduct code is to act as a detailed description of what is the
most legal and ethical behavior expected out of the business. Although codes are not
mandatory, it makes it easier to defend a charge of unlawfully causing environmental
harm if the organisation can prove it was complying with an authorized code of
practice. A few advantages of having a business code of conduct are: It enhances the
company's core values, beliefs and sets the right culture.
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11. Explain how requirements of WHS legislation are relevant to environmental sustainability.
Include examples in your response.

WHS legislation provides a safe working environment for all the employees and workers
in the workplace and avoids the risk of illness and injury which promotes environmental
sustainability. WHS requirements include: identifying hazardous substances and
dangerous goods codes, safe operating procedures and SDS (safety data
sheets).  SDS provide information on chemicals, how they affect health and safety,
correct storage and handling, emergency procedures and disposal guidelines.
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Environmentally sustainable work practices leads to safe and healthy workplace
environment for workers. So, environmental sustainability is required for implementation
of WHS legislation at workplace. 
For instance, WHS in workplace will ensure that the workers must exercise reasonable
care that their acts or omission do not adversely affect the health and safety of persons
at a workplace.

12. A waste audit is a common workplace procedure used to measure and document waste
produced by a department and/or the whole organisation. Briefly outline the steps involved in a
waste audit.

 Plan: Gather and form a team that are informed of what the objectives of the
team are. Next, have the team select a date for when they will conduct the audit.
 Sort: Construct a list of the types of wastes the company produces and
categorize them accordingly. In general, some categories include, paper, glass,
plastic bottles, food waste, etc.
 Procurement of equipment: Gather the necessary tools for conducting a
successful waste audit. These materials include gloves, trash bags, weighing
scales, masks, among others.
 Sorting: Once the trash is gathered, sort them according to the classification
imposed on step 2. In this step, you will also be using the tools from step 3 to
weight the trash you have collected.
 Computation: Generally, you have to compute for the diversion rate. The
diversion rate tells you how much of the company's total trash is recyclable;
hence, can be used as landfill. We use this formula diversion rate. 
 Assessment: In this step, you use the data gathered on step 5 to make logical
conclusions on the waste that the company produces. For example, you might
observe that a certain trash category does not need to be collected as often as
the other categories. Further, you might also want to consider modifying the
waste segregation procedures of the company.

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The steps involved are 

1. Plan a date, time, location and select the team 
2. Collect background information 
3. Gather the waste 
4. Go through the garbage and sort the waste 
5. Communicate the recorded data/results

13. Discuss two methods that could be used to collect and monitor energy consumption in a
workplace.
The two methods that could be used to collect and monitor energy consumption in a
workplace are:
1.  Measure carbon emission: There are many online calculators designed to help you
calculate and reduce your carbon footprint. Simply type ‘carbon footprint calculator’ into
your internet search engine browser and gain access to the many online tools and
software options available.
2. Supply of bills: Look at cost data for energy consumption from your supplier bills.
Data should be entered onto your data collection plan (more on these soon) at the
frequency that bills, and other records are received, e.g., monthly. An energy usage
baseline should be established, so your organisation or department can estimate and
measure energy savings.
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 Monitor equipment usage: monitoring frequency of use, maintenance logs. 
 Examine suppliers bills by looking at the cost data for energy consumption from your
supplier bills.

14. What are the six steps in analysing and documenting current purchasing strategies?

The six steps in analysing and documenting current purchasing strategies are:

  Identify the business need.

 Conduct a risk assessment.
  Seek alternative solutions.
  Award the contract.
  Manage ongoing contract.
  Determine goods disposal.

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 Identify the business need 

 Conduct a risk assessment 
 Seek alternative solution 
 Award the contract 
 Management of contract 
 Disposal of goods 
15. When you review current work practices, systems and SOPs to identify areas for
improvement, what questions can you ask? List two.
The two questions that we can ask are:
- Potentially, are there any other environmental impacts that could result from these
work processes?
- What activities can be modified to improve resource use and reduce waste?
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Can waste generation be reduced? 
Are the work process safe?

16. List four common environmental and energy efficiency issues that you observe in your
workplace/industry.

- Poor maintenance of equipment such as seals on refrigerators, which means

inefficient running and increased energy use.
- The amount of food waste that ends up in landfill from the various food outlets in the
industry.
- Direct emissions caused by your establishment and which you have control over, for
example, gases escaping from air conditioners and power used to run refrigerators.
- The high water usage for preparing and cooking food, laundering towels and sheets,
running toilets and showers, and cleaning.
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The common environmental and energy issues observed in the workplace and the industry at
large are; The use of paper for invoicing, making orders and deliveries which is then littered in
the environment. This leads to depletion of forests and dirtifying the environment. Also there is
the use of light bulbs and desktop computers and monitors which consume a lot of energy.
There is also wastage of water around the workplace, through people leaving running taps over
the weekends, leaking kitchen and toilet taps and showers etc, this ends up being harmful to the
environment. There is also noise pollution especially in industries which work with machines.
Also company vehicles that ferry employees to and from work have poor combustion engines
which cause air pollution
17Using your response from the previous questions and without measuring data, what do you
believe is the biggest environmental or energy efficiency issue in your workplace or training
environment?

 Over-buying products or services.

 Failing to turn off equipment and appliances when not in use.
 Waste in the workplace.
 Production errors, resulting in faulty goods or services, which then become waste
.
 Not using products or services in their ‘use-by’ time .
 Unnecessary transportation.
 A room attendant may suggest the water used to launder towels, sheets, etc.

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Waste in the workplace 

Unnecessary transportation
Over-buying products or services 
Not using products or services in their ‘use-by’ time 
Production errors, resulting in faulty goods or services, which then become waste 
Failing to turn off equipment and appliances when not in use
18. What is benchmarking and how can it help an organisation comply with
environmental regulations?
The benchmarking tool offers us with a framework for measuring our environmental
performance, as well as the ability to compare our environmental performance and costs to
those of our industry peers. It helps to access and compare resource efficiency in specific work
area and how environmental performance outcomes are met or can be improved. It’s searching
for and developing what’s considered best practice in any company, in any industry, anywhere
in the world so you can use it within your industry/company.

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Benchmarking is comparing ones business processes and performance metrics and

then applying those best practices in your organisation. 
Additionally, it helps to access and compare resource efficiency in specific work area
and how environmental performance outcomes are met or can be improved

19List three examples of benchmarks for environmental and resource sustainability that are
relevant to your organisation.
  Sustainable social, cultural and environmental management.
 Energy use for each key business activity.
 Environmentally sustainable work practices throughout the organisation.

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1. Environmental management, sustainable social  and  cultural.

2. Eliminating the carbon footprint of the organisation.

3. Use water for each key business activity.

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EG: Water use each key business activity 

It’s important to remember that anything you put down the drain ends up in the
environment. The more waste you put down the drain, the greater the impact on grease
traps and the environment as a whole. 
All waste must be treated before being released into the environment. Businesses are
charged a trade waste (glossary) fee based on the type and quantity of pollutants they
flush down the drain. 
Some commercial operations dispose of substances or chemicals that could be harmful
to the environment in their waste water. This harmful waste must be treated before it is
released back into the environment. Councils charge businesses for this waste water
treatment based on the level of treatment required.
20List the four aims of sustainable purchasing.

1. To minimise the environmental impact of goods and services over their life cycle.
2. To encourage innovation in design and implementation of products and services to
achieve more sustainable outcomes.
3. To ensure that suppliers use fair, ethical and sustainable practices.
4. To avoid unnecessary consumption. Question whether goods or services need to be
purchased.
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 Question is to avoid unnecessary consumption. whether goods or services need

to be purchased.  
 Encourage innovation in design and implementation of products and services to
achieve more sustainable outcomes.
 Reduce the environmental impact of goods and services over their life cycle.
  Ensure that suppliers use fair, ethical and sustainable practices.

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They are 
1. To encourage innovation in design and implementation of products and services to
achieve more sustainable outcomes 2. To avoid unnecessary consumption 
3. To minimise the environmental impact of goods and services over their life cycle 
4. To ensure that suppliers use fair, ethical and sustainable practices

21List the organisational procedures used in your workplace to analyse your current
procurement strategies.

 Conduct an internal needs analysis 

 Identify the business need.
 Conduct an assessment of the supplier 's market
 Collect supplier information 
 Conduct a risk assessment.
 Seek alternative solutions.
 Award the contract.
 Manage ongoing contract.
 Determine goods disposal.

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1. Identify the business need 

2. Conduct a risk assessment
 3. Seek and evaluate alternative solutions 
4. Award the contract 
5. Ongoing management of the contract 
6. Disposal of goods

22. You work for a large manufacturer of hospitality resources providing hoteliers, restaurant
and function centres bulk products. How can this business ensure sustainability and reduce the
adverse environmental, social and economic impacts when sourcing and purchasing the
products it sells?

This business can ensure sustainability by producing only the required amounts of
resources to minimize wastages and to promote sustainable purchasing. Your business
should examine its supply chain to check that the companies it purchases from adopt
environmentally sustainable work practices. Basically, the more you buy, what you buy,
where you buy it from, and how much you use all make a difference to environmental
sustainability. It’s important for a business not only to examine its own activities, but the
activities of those within its supply chain.
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reuse, recycle or hiring products/services. 
Evaluate against the waste management hierarchy

23List five ways your organisation could improve its purchasing strategies.

- Check that suppliers adhere to the standards and practices they say they do. 
- Use raw materials that cause less waste and are sustainably sourced.
- Purchase products packed in recycled packaging or that are durable and re-usable.
- Reject problem materials such as things that are damaged or broken as these will
become waste.
- Try to avoid over-purchasing. Examine the organisation’s need for products and order
to just meet requirements as oversupply frequently leads to waste.
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1. Try to avoid over-purchasing. Examine the organisation’s need for products and order
to just meet requirements, as oversupply frequently leads to waste. 
2. Use raw materials that cause less waste and are sustainably sourced 
3. Set environmental standards and ask suppliers to adhere to these.
4. Check that suppliers adhere to the standards and practices they say they do. 
5. Ask suppliers to accept empty packaging from their products.

24. Quality assurance is one of the principles of quality management. What does quality
assurance mean and how can it help an organisation comply with environmental regulations?
Quality assurance is the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product and 
monitoring of quality service/products standards. These systems help a business prevent error
and ‘assure’ or guarantee that its products and services are of a consistently high standard.

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Quality assurance is the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product,

especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production. The
Quality Assurance, Environment, and the workers’ Health and Safety Management systems are
the instruments the organisation uses to obtain these strategic goals and to implement its Policy

25Explain how an organisation can use carbon offsets to help achieve its efficiency
targets, seek certification and maintain quality assurance.
One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric tone of carbon dioxide or its equivalent
in other greenhouse gases. The Australian Government has the NCOS Carbon Neutral
Program, which is a voluntary scheme that certifies products, businesses or events against the
NCOS. Once certified, the business can use the NCOS Carbon Neutral Certified logo under
licence for promotional and marketing purposes. This events could help to restore forests,
modernize power plants and factories, and improve building and transportation energy efficiency
which help to achieve targets, seek certification and maintain quality assurance.

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Adopting energy efficiency measures and shifting to renewable energy are an important part of
the solution in reducing global carbon emissions. But we will still generate emissions. Carbon
neutrality requires that we offset the remaining emissions and counter balance the level of
greenhouse gases the businesses emit. Hence, an organisation can seek certification set by
Australian Government against National Carbon Offset Standard.

26What tools and techniques can you use to help monitor performance?

 Surveys.
 Performance appraisals.
 Checklists.
 Performance management frameworks.
 Energy management software.
 Data collection and monitoring plans.
 Waste audits.

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Information used to measure KPI target achievement, such as supplier invoices for
water and energy consumption, surveys and checklists 
Energy management tracking and reporting software and equipment Waste audits
Checklists
27Is there a place for qualitative research in assessing the performance of sustainability
initiatives? Explain.

Yes, there is a place of qualitative research in assessing the performance of sustainability

initiatives because sustainability always deals with the quality and qualitative objects and
works. Gathering data through an attitude survey can help pinpoint areas to address. 

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Understanding employee attitudes and behaviours is paramount to addressing potential barriers

to sustainable practices. This is where some qualitative (glossary) research can be beneficial.
Gathering data through an attitude survey can help pinpoint areas to address. Share results with
staff and display in graphs or tables

28. Outline four tools or techniques an organisation could use to achieve a ‘green office’.

 Use energy management software to switch off equipment and lights when not in
use.
 Use recycled paper.
 Have recycle bins placed near the photocopier and printers.
 Train staff. Aim to change behaviours around printing, recycling and other
sustainable practices.

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 Purchase equipment with Energy Star logo 

 Use energy management software 
 Eliminate Waste in Printing 
 Go Digital 
 Buy Environmentally Friendly Paper 
 Use Natural Light

29. The concept of continuous improvement involves an organisation-wide commitment to

making incremental improvements in processes, products and services. List five strategies or
components of continuous improvement.

 Apply benchmarks. Use external benchmarks where appropriate.

 Ensure staff are aware of the organisation’s purpose/mission.
 Ensure that staff have clearly defined roles.
  Create a quality culture within the organisation.
 Set new performance targets.

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 Researching and reviewing an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses against

current industry and market trends in sustainability 
 Providing regular, standardised training to improve performance or bridge lapses in
performance 
 Creating work environment committees such as WHS, environment groups and
innovation teams 
 Environmental sustainability must be reflected in an organisation’s mission, vision and
value. 
 Using statistical data to assess the progress and to make decisions.