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2010/1 Module Catalogue
 Module Code: OHSM003 Module Title: ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT & CONTROL
Module Provider: Postgraduate Medical School Short Name: ENVIRORISK
Level: M Module Co-ordinator: EDGAR J Dr (PGMS)
Number of credits: 15 Number of ECTS credits: 7.5
 
Module Availability

P/T
Assessment Pattern

Components of Assessment
Method(s)
Percentage weighting
Coursework
The practical work completed during a session of the module has to be submitted as a written report with an executive summary (approx. 3000 words).
 
100%

Module Overview
Prerequisites/Co-requisites

None
Module Aims

To provide an overview of the hazards to the environment from work activities, their sources, the assessment of risks to the environment, workplace based control measures, the legislative background to environmental protection, disposal of wastes and discharges to atmosphere and water.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module the student will be able: 

a)       Assess the risk to the public and the environment from potentially  hazardous activities.
b)       Understand how to develop and perform environmental audits
c)       Understand how to complete and when to undertake an EIA
d)       To identify statutory controls for the protection of the public, ecosystems and historic monuments.
e)       To describe the toxic effects of substances on people and the environment
f)         To identify and discuss methods of dealing with non-hazardous and hazardous wastes
g)       To determine the appropriate disposal route for solid and liquid waste and assess the likely impact of any release
h)       To select the appropriate abatement system to control air and water releases based upon BATCBA


Cognitive Skills
 
  • ·Critically appraise the practitioners skills in communicating and networking to evaluate environmental risk.
  • Develop upon existing knowledge to evaluate the impact of waste on the environment

 Key Skills

 
 
  • Analyse and apply relevant research.
  • Work within a multi-disciplinary team and evaluation own role and contribution.

Practical Skills

 
 
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of environmental audit tools.
  • Critically identify strategies for dealing with hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
  • Appraise methods for environmental monitoring and engineering controls to ensure safety of the environment.
Module Content
  • The nature of the hazards to people, plants, animals and the wider environment - hazardous substances, radiation, chemicals, noise, light, transport
  • KPIs for the environment
  • Global, EU regional and EU country NGOs, regulators and institutions
  • EU and UK regulatory framework
  • EPA90, EA95, IPPC, COMAH, COSHH, WML, RAS90, WIA and WRA, Planning permission, GMOs, statutory nuisance, SEA, Transport of materials.
  • Optimisation techniques BPEO, BATNEEC, BATCBA, ALARA, ALARP
  • Management systems and auditing; ISO14001, EMAS, Basic - IPPC
  • Sustainable development and Environmental policy statements
  • Risk assessment types; source – pathway-receptor
  • Pathway modelling to all media with model demonstrations
  • Nature of receptor response; EQSs, EAL, Dose-response curves, Empirical relationships
  • Monitoring discharges to air and water
  • Disposal of solid and liquid waste – physical, chemical, and biological waste , storage and transport. Landfill. Discharges to ground and surface water. Incineration and waste to energy plants
  • Engineering control of discharges to atmosphere – treatment of flue gases – scrubbing, cyclones, venturis, filtration, adsorption
  • Special waste disposal procedures for clinical, microbiological, and radioactive waste
  • Environmental noise, measurement, impact evaluation, and control
  • Light pollution, measurement impact evaluation, and control
Methods of Teaching/Learning
By background reading, formal lectures, student presentations, case studies from industry.
Selected Texts/Journals
Essential
 
Chimney Heights: Third Edition of the 1956 Clean Air Act, (The Stationery Office)
Combustion Plant Directive, Final Report to the DETR (now DEFRA), Entec, April 1999.
 
Recommended
 
DEFRA – PPG guidance notes for planning
EH40/2001 Occupational Exposure Limits 2001, HSE ISBN 0 7176 1977 X
Guidelines for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management, July 2001, DETR, Environment Agency, Institute of Environmental Health, The Stationery Office ISBN 0 11 753551 6
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Environmental Assessment and Appraisal of BAT
IPC E1 BPEO Assessment Methodology for IPC The Stationary Office ISBN 0 10 542499
IPPC: A Practical Guide (for England and Wales) (or equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) (www.environment.detr.gov.uk).
IPPC H2 Energy Efficiency Guidance Note (post -consultation working draft on EA web-site)
IPPC H3 Noise Guidance Note (consultation draft on EA Website)
IPPC H4 Odour Guidance Note (in preparation for consultation: in the interim, consult the Regulator)
NSCA( 2004) National society for clean air, Pollution Handbook, Brighton.
Reeve, Paul, “Making a Difference – a Basic Guide to Environmental Management for OSH Practitioners”, authored on behalf of the IOSH Technical Affairs Committee. Download at: (www.iosh.co.uk/files/technical/ACF1660%2Epdf)
Technical Guidance Note (Dispersion) D1, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution, June 1993 (The Stationery Office)
WHO “Assessing human health risks of chemicals: derivation of guidance values for health based exposure limits” Environmental Health criteria 170, WHO Geneva
 
Background
 
Davis, RD “Control of contamination problems in the treatment and disposal of sewage sludge” Technical Report no TR Water Research Centre, Medmenham
Decommissioning Guidance (Environment Agency document in preparation)
Derwent, RG; Jenkin, ME; Saunders, SM; and Pilling, MJ ; Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential for Organic Compounds in Northwest Europe Calculated with a Master Chemical Mechanism, Atmospheric Environment Vol 32, No 14/15 1998, Elsevier Science Ltd
Expert Panel on air quality standards; Benzene(1994), Ozone(1994), 1-3 Butadiene(1994), CO(1994), SO2(1995)
Guidelines for Defining and Documenting Data on Costs of Possible Environmental Protection Measures, European Environment Agency, Technical Report no 27
IPPC Part A(1) Installations: Guide for Applicants (EA Website).
IPPC Regulatory Guidance Series No 1 The Determination and Implications of “Change in Operation” and “substantial Change” (available via the Regulator)
IPPC (1994) Radiative Forcing of Climate Change, Report of the Scientific Assessment Working Group of IPPC.
Jones JA, 1983, Models to allow for the effects of coastal sites, plume rise and buildings on the dispersion of radionuclides and guidance on the value of deposition velocity and washout coefficients NRPB-R157
McGrath SP, Loveland PJ “The Soil Geochemical Atlas of England & Wales” Blackie Academic and Professional, London
Perriman, R, “Assessment of Significance”, EAC report to the Environment Agency, 2000.
Protocol for the Environmental Evaluation of Achievable Releases in Chief Inspector’s Guidance Notes, WS Atkins Environment Report No E5251-R1, HMIP, 1995
The Costs and Benefits of Applying the Emission Limit Values in a Proposed Amendment to the Large Amendment to the Large Combustion Plant Directive, Final report to the DETR (now DEFRA), Entec, April 1999.
The Pollution Prevention and Control Act (1999) (www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk).
The Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (SI 1973 2000) (www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk).
Turner D B, “Workbook of Atmospheric Dispersion Estimates: An Introduction to Dispersion Modelling, Lewis Publishers,1994
UK Direct Toxicity Assessment Demonstration Programme: Technical Guidance – Addressing Water Quality problems in catchments where acute toxicity is an issue, Report No 00/TX/02/07, UKWIR 2000.
UNECE (1991) Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-range transboundary air pollution concerning the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds or their transboundary fluxes. Geneva, 18 November 1991
 
Last Updated

28th May 2008