This is a summary of our manufacturing guidance. Download the guide for more information. You can print the manufacturing poster for your business.
The manufacturing industry includes any business that uses raw materials, parts and components to produce goods – for example:
- food and beverages
- textiles and footwear
- cleaning products
- chemicals used to make explosives
- fertilisers and pesticides
- machinery and equipment
- pharmaceutical or medicinal chemicals
- photographic chemicals
- printing
- pulp and paper
- toiletries and cosmetics
- wood products, metals and plastics.
Your legal obligations
The Environment Protection Act 2017(opens in a new window) establishes the legal framework for protecting human health and the environment in Victoria from waste and pollution.
Duties
The Act sets out 13 duties to protect human health and the environment. Duties apply to individuals and businesses.
The general environmental duty applies to any activity that creates a risk of harm to human health and the environment.
Other duties may also apply to your activities, including:
- duty to manage contaminated land
- duty to notify us of contaminated land
- duty to notify us of a notifiable incident
- duty to take action to respond to harm caused by a pollution incident
- unreasonable noise duty
- waste duties.
Regulations
The Environment Protection Regulations 2021(opens in a new window) support the Act to address some risks of harm that need further controls.
There may be specific requirements that apply to your activities under the Regulations – for example:
- plastic bags
- noisy or smoky vehicles
- onsite wastewater management system
- solid fuel heaters
- ozone depleting substances, like methyl bromide and chlorofluorocarbons
- used packaging materials
- air pollutants that need to be reported to the National Pollutant Inventory.
Permissions
Under the environment protection legislation, we issue permissions for some activities. These include licences, permits and registrations. Different types of permissions have different requirements.
Examples of activities relating to manufacturing that require a permission include:
- A07b – Organic waste processing (small)(opens in a new window)
- A11 – Transporting controlled waste into Victoria
- A19 – Temporary onsite waste treatment
- A20 – Onsite wastewater management systems
- A23 – Temporary storage (designated waste)
- D07 – Milk processing
- E01 – Textile works
- H05c – Glass works (small reprocessing)
- J01 – Printing
Compliance and enforcement
We:
- support businesses to comply with the law through guidance and education
- enforce the law if the environment or community is deliberately or negligently exposed to harm.
Our authorised officers visit businesses and premises to conduct inspections, provide advice and assess compliance with the law and any specific permission conditions.
Local councils also have powers to enforce certain environmental laws.
Risk management
It's your responsibility to understand and manage the risk of harm to human health and the environment from pollution and waste from any work you do.
Use a risk management process to help you eliminate or reduce risks so far as reasonably practicable.
Common manufacturing hazards
A hazard is something that can cause harm to human health and the environment, particularly if it's not managed well.
As part of the risk management process, you must identify hazards and assess their risks.
Common hazards in the manufacturing industry include:
This is not a complete list, but it gives you an idea of some hazards that may impact human health and the environment. Every business is different and has a unique set of hazards and risks.
If you need more information to better understand hazards in your business, sources of information include:
- Department of Transport and Planning for information about Victoria’s planning system
- Local councils for information on building regulations and the Victorian planning schemes and what they mean for your operations
- Victorian Building Authority for information about Victoria’s building regulatory framework
- WorkSafe Victoria for guidance and advice relating to health and safety at your workplace, including storing, handling and transporting dangerous goods and controlling exposure to crystalline silica.
Control measures
The controls you put in place depend on your business activities and hazards.
Check controls regularly to make sure that they’re working, well maintained and effective and that they remain the most appropriate option.
For more information about controls, download the manufacturing guidance. You can use the action plan (Appendix A) as a template to list actions you can take to improve the way you control risks.
We also have some information about controls on our website:
Assess and minimise air pollution from your business
Control dust from your business
Control noise from your business
Control odour from your business
Manage and store combustible recyclable and waste materials
Manage clinical and related industrial waste
Manage electronic waste for reprocessing
Manage fire risk at your business
Manage used packaging materials
Minimise greenhouse gas emissions from your business
Working on land in historical mining regions.
Examples of common controls for small business
Maintain and regularly check plant and equipment. For example:
- keep maintenance records
- follow operating procedure and equipment manuals
- monitor plant and equipment for leaks and emissions, including noise.
Provide induction, training and supervision for staff. For example:
- induct all workers and contractors on site on environmental risks
- train all workers before they conduct activities that have risk
- provide relevant information to workers about onsite risks and your risk control measures
- supervise workers to avoid or minimise harm.
Ensure you handle, store, use, transport and dispose of chemicals and waste correctly. For example:
- do not put liquid waste in stormwater drains
- keep up-to-date records and documents, such as safety data sheets for chemicals stored or used at your business
- protect stormwater drains from accidental spills and material like dust and litter
- store oils and chemicals in closed containers
- take electronic waste to the right place for disposal
- use appropriate and authorised waste disposal facilities
- use authorised waste transporters to collect hazardous waste like solvents or caustic cleaning chemicals
- use correct storage techniques, such as bunding.
Minimise harm when something does go wrong. For example:
- install adequate systems and mitigating control measures, such as fire alarms and extinguishers, overflow spill alarms and spill kits
- develop and implement procedures for reporting pollution incidents and near misses
- report and act upon pollution incidents and near misses, including notifying us where required
- review work procedures and training following incidents.
Industry example
This example shows you how to use the risk management process to manage hazards from manufacturing activities.
Identify hazards and assess risks
Doug owns a printing business that uses solvent inks and generates photographic chemical wastes from the printing process.
Doug identifies these wastes can be toxic to people, land and water ecosystems if not managed appropriately.
During an assessment, Doug discovers there’s a waterway leading down to a creek close to the boundary of the property.
Put controls in place
Doug is careful about making sure solvents and other chemical wastes don’t enter the environment. Doug refers to our storage and handling guidance to help reduce risk.
Doug's priority at the start and end of each day is to check all chemicals are:
- clearly labelled
- tightly sealed
- stored away from incompatible chemicals, drains, sewers and any source of heat.
Doug also makes sure:
- any spills have been cleaned up
- chemical wastes are reused where possible
- other chemical wastes are transported and disposed of at a facility authorised to receive the waste.
Doug uses vapour capture and treatment equipment because of the high risk of vapours from solvent-based chemicals being released into the atmosphere.
Alternatives such as water-based inks and low-solvent chemicals are used wherever possible.
Doug makes sure staff wear gloves and a vapour mask when handling chemicals. They keep an inventory of all chemicals and spill response equipment on-site. They follow the safety data sheets to ensure chemicals are stored and handled safely.
Check controls
Doug regularly checks controls are working as intended. Through regular staff meetings and training, Doug is confident staff know:
- how to manage chemicals appropriately
- what to do if a spill happens
- how to safely dispose of any materials that become contaminated.
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