Industry priorities and expectations Sustainable Operations

Sustainability for an organisation is impacted by its own operations, suppliers, customers, regulations, and the local community and ecological environment. The new qualifications target the skills required to improve an organisation’s sustainability performance.  There are three Sustainable Operations qualifications each targeting a different level of focus within an organisation.

MSS40111 Certificate IV in Sustainable Operations

This qualification provides skills for employees who are:

• working at the team or area level
• required to contribute to sustainability related auditing or reporting
• implementing sustainability related changes within their own team, work area or section.

It provides specific sustainability related skills and is designed to complement qualifications supplying production, maintenance, logistics or other technical skills to industry.

This qualification applies to learners who have responsibilities for implementing sustainability related actions in part of a large organisation or in an entire small or medium enterprise.

MSS50111 Diploma of Sustainable Operations

This qualification provides skills for employees who are working in a managerial, technician or paraprofessional role in regards to sustainability across the whole of the enterprise. It targets employees who have enterprise level responsibility for:

• developing a business case for sustainability changes
• auditing and reporting
• conducting life cycle analyses  
• designing a sustainable product or process
• working with value chain members on sustainability
• liaison with other organisations and community representatives.

It meets industry needs for a qualification that provides technical skills to conduct enterprise wide sustainability related activities, including:

• mass balancing
• auditing and other carbon and carbon equivalent measuring
• formal reporting against standards and regulations
• design for sustainability.

The qualification has a mixture of general and specific sustainability units of competency, including specific auditing units for energy emissions, water and transport related audits.

MSS70111 Vocational Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Operations

This qualification targets the senior manager who must set a strategic direction on sustainability for the organisation, and provide leadership and planning for the deployment of the sustainability strategy.

The Vocational Graduate Certificate is not an entry level qualification and assumes that the learner has one or more of the following:

• an Advanced Diploma or Diploma in sustainability or relevant technical field
• a Bachelor Degree in a relevant technical field
• other relevant higher education qualifications, often with relevant vocational practice
• relevant extensive vocational practice, without formal qualifications but which result in appropriate entry level skills.

The qualification assumes that learners are already familiar with the basic concepts of sustainability (e.g. triple bottom line, concept of emissions, carbon and carbon equivalence, and environmental impact) and also familiar with the operations and processes used within the organisation.

Impact of changes– Environmental Monitoring and Technology

The new qualifications include clear environmental science and technology coverage and will enable environmental officers, compliance officers, technicians and field officers to measure and address enterprise impacts on air, water and other external environmental conditions. Other inclusions are implementation of legislation, development and implementation of policy as well as reporting requirements and development of strategic operational plans and procedures. There are three Environmental Monitoring and Technology qualifications each targeting a different level of focus within an organisation.

The new qualifications will address the skilling needs of technicians and paraprofessionals who:

• collect, analyse and report environmental data
• contribute to the assessment of environmental risks and impacts
• develop and/or implement policies, management plans and strategies, and work practices associated with sustainable development, environmental management, waste management, pollution control, rehabilitation and restoration of sites, and catchment areas and regions
• install, operate, and maintain new ‘sustainable’ technologies
• monitor and report environmental/sustainability performance and compliance
• improve the knowledge and skills of workers and community members about environmental management and sustainability.

MSS40211 Certificate IV in Environmental Monitoring and Technology

This qualification recognises that some industry sectors employ environmental assistants and technicians who have broad technical knowledge and skills in the area of environmental sampling and testing and some understanding of the industry processes and/or ecosystems that they are working with. These personnel do not have the more substantial knowledge of environmental monitoring; complex instrumentation; data analysis; environmental impacts and the strategies for minimising these impacts and remediation/rehabilitation of sites, that is provided by the MSS50211 Diploma of Environmental Monitoring and Technology for environmental officers.

MSS50211 Diploma in Environmental Monitoring and Technology

This qualification is typically used to prepare new employees or develop the skills of existing workers performing an environmental officer role in most industry sectors. The roles include environmental officers, environmental protection officers, environmental compliance officers, environmental technicians and similar personnel employed by enterprises and Commonwealth, state/territory/local governments.

Employees of enterprises are more likely to be involved with environmental monitoring, technology, internal auditing and continuous improvements to enhance compliance and minimise the environmental impacts of processes. Government employees may be involved with inspection/auditing of enterprises and negotiating appropriate responses to instances of non-compliance. Environmental officers often work with environmental scientists, engineers, planners and community groups to manage and conserve natural systems and resources, minimise pollution, remediate/rehabilitate sites and trial practical strategies to protect and improve ecosystems.

MSS70211 Vocational Graduate Certificate in Environmental Management

This qualification applies to environmental site coordinators, environmental managers and senior environmental officers who oversee environmental monitoring and management activities at a site or for a significant environmental management program or project.

The qualification covers the skills and knowledge required by technical specialists who already have a relevant higher education or vocational qualification, or have extensive vocational experience without formal qualifications and require the competence to coordinate environmental monitoring and management activities at a site or for a significant environmental management program or project