Specialty Technical Publishers (STP) and Specialty Technical Consultants (STC) Publish Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Audit Protocol for Western Australia

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Specialty Technical Publishers (STP) and Specialty Technical Consultants (STC) announce the availability of the newly updated International Audit Protocol Consortium (IAPC) EHS audit protocol for Western Australia. Leading companies around the world use IAPC EHS audit protocols to understand the scope of their EHS regulatory obligations and rapidly collect, share, archive, and export audit findings in a cost effective manner. IAPC EHS audit protocols are now prepared by STC in partnership with STP and continue to focus on those national (plus, in some cases, regional or provincial) EHS requirements that have site-specific application for manufacturing operations. As a leading EHS management consulting firm with a global network of experienced EHS teaming partners, STC has indepth knowledge and technical expertise of local/regional EHS requirements.

STP and STC maintain leading-edge EHS audit protocols for more than 50 jurisdictions. The protocol documents are written in English and are available in MS Word, Adobe Acrobat and Excel formats, as well as through STP's web-based portal or can be integrated into an existing company platform. Using the protocols' custom templates and advanced functionality features, auditors can easily track audit findings and manage data over time to improve compliance, risk management and safety performance. In addition, STP's formatting is compatible with leading risk management and sustainability platform providers.

Highlights of selected legislation covered in the newly developed protocol include:

• The new "Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016" replaced both the "Wildlife Conservation Act" and the "Sandalwood Act." This new "Act" is meant to conserve and protect biodiversity and to promote the ecologically sustainable use of biodiversity components in Western Australia. It provides for not only listing species, but also threatened ecological communities, key threatening processes (such as land degradation), and critical habitats. The "Act" also includes listing species as "endangered," "critically endangered" or "vulnerable," which brings Western Australia in line with the "Commonwealth's Environment Conservation and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999."
• The "Environmental Protection (NEPM-UPM) Regulations 2013" are aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of consumer packaging in Australia by ensuring that packaging is recovered, reused, recycled or used for energy recovery and by setting recovery rate goals for consumer packaging.
• The "Environmental Protection (Petrol) Regulations," formerly known as the "Environmental Protection (Diesel and Petrol) Regulations," establish certain standards for petrol and have been revised so that they no longer include diesel fuel.
• The "Dangerous Goods Safety (Storage and Handling of Non-explosives) Regulations 2007" have undergone a number of amendments. Key changes include adding a new requirement for sites where the quantity of dangerous goods stored or handled exceeds 10 times the manifest to have a Fire and Emergency Services emergency response guide; the removal of a requirement for sites to maintain a register of dangerous goods; and changes related to emergency planning and licensing. These regulations also now refer to Safety Data Sheets rather than Material Safety Data Sheets.
• The "Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996" were amended to include new electrical safety requirements that must be met before work is done in a roof space of a building.
• The dedicated security regulations for ammonium nitrate have been renamed as the "Dangerous Goods Safety (Security Sensitive Ammonium Nitrate) Regulations 2007." Previously, these regulations were called the "Dangerous Goods Safety (Security Sensitive Substances) Regulations." Amendments were made to requirements for the authorization of secure nominees and to licensing requirements.
• National legislation that applies to facilities operating in Western Australia has been incorporated into the following Sections of this protocol: 2.0 – General Environmental; 3.0 – Air Emissions; 4.0 – Solid and Hazardous Waste; 10.0 – General Health and Safety; 16.0 – Chemical Management; and 17.0 – Construction Work Site Safety.
• The "Country Towns Sewerage Act 1948" and the "Country Towns Sewerage By-Laws 1952" were repealed by the "Water Services Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2012."
• Requirements referencing the "Metropolitan Water Authority Act 1982" have been removed from the protocol as amendments to the regulations have deleted the requirements that were applicable to land-based manufacturing facilities.
• The "Country Areas Water Supply Act 1947" was amended to require that a license or right be granted prior to taking, diverting, intercepting, and storing water within any catchment area or water reserve.
• The "Health Act 1911" that applies to the connection of premises to drains and sewers of local government and to the pollution of water supplies has been renamed the "Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1911."
• The "Water Services 2012" establishes requirements related to the provision of water supply, sewerage, irrigation and drainage serves. This Act came into effect in November 2013 and it consolidated and streamlined legislation which was previously distributed across nine Acts.

For more information on all International EHS audit protocols offered by STP and STC click here.

About Specialty Technical Publishers
Specialty Technical Publishers (STP) produces technical resource guides covering environmental, health & safety, transportation, accounting, business practices, standards and law, offering comprehensive guidance on key compliance and regulatory issues. STP is a division of Glacier Media Inc., a Canadian information communications company that provides primary and essential information in print, electronic and online media. Glacier's Business and Professional Information Group publishes directories, technical manuals, research and development materials, medical education, electronic databases, investment information and specialty websites.

About Specialty Technical Consultants
Specialty Technical Consultants, Inc. (STC) is a specialized management consulting firm working to enhance environmental health and safety (EHS) performance. Through its consulting services, STC partners with clients to strengthen management systems' design and implementation, and identifies needs and implements solutions to meet business objectives. Services provided include: EHS compliance support; risk assessment; EHS auditing; corporate responsibility and sustainability; EHS management systems development and implementation; EHS regulatory information tools; and EHS training.

STC is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and the Supplier Clearinghouse for the California Public Utilities Commission, and as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program.

SOURCE Specialty Technical Publishers