New online videos from Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) are giving small to medium sized businesses a quick and easy course in meeting their environmental risk management responsibilities.

EPA Director Jo Missen says the short videos give a simple introduction to how a business can follow a risk management process that saves on costs and protects the environment.

“Each of the four videos is around two minutes long.  They show you a four-step process to manage any potential risks your business activities may pose to the environment and human health,” Ms Missen said. 

“The steps are simple and can put you on the road to applying them to a business of any size, or developing your own risk management approach if that’s better for your business,” she said. 

The videos explain how to:

Identify hazards – any thing or activity on your site that could harm human health or the environment, such as chemical spills, stormwater contamination, dust, odour or hazardous waste 

Assess risks - looking at how hazards might cause harm, how likely they are to happen and how severe the harm might be.  

Implement controls – using controls suited to the risks you have identified

Check controls – regularly checking their effectiveness and making any improvements.

The videos explain the new laws effective from 1 July 2021 under the Environment Protection Act 2017.

Under the General Environmental Duty (GED) included in the new laws, you must understand the risks from your businesses activities and how to address them as far as reasonably practicable.  

EPA has made the videos as user-friendly as possible – they run less than eight minutes in total, and can be viewed one at a time.

The four videos and more advice are available at epa.vic.gov.au/riskmanagement

There’s a more detailed printed guide for business available in 17 languages at epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/publications/1695-1