NEBOSH

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

UNIT EMC1:
For: NEBOSH Environmental Management Certificate

Open Book Examination

Available for 24 hours

Guidance to learners

This is an open book examination. It is not invigilated, and you are free to use any learning
resources to which you have access, eg your course notes, or a website, etc.

By submitting this completed assessment for marking, you are declaring it is entirely your own work.
Knowingly claiming work to be your own when it is someone else’s work is malpractice, which carries
severe penalties. This means that you must not collaborate with or copy work from others. Neither
should you ‘cut and paste’ blocks of text from the Internet or other sources.

The examination begins with a realistic scenario to set the scene. You will then need to complete a
series of tasks based on this scenario. Each task will consist of one or more questions.

Your responses to most of these tasks should wholly, or partly, draw on relevant information from the
scenario. The task will clearly state the extent to which this is required.

The marks available are shown in brackets to the right of each question, or part of each question.
This will help guide you to the amount of information required in your response. In general, one mark
is given for each correct technical point that is clearly demonstrated. Avoid writing too little as this
will make it difficult for the Examiner to award marks. Single word answers or lists are unlikely to
gain marks as this would not normally be enough to show understanding or a connection with the
scenario.

You are not expected to write more than 3 000 words in total.
Try to distribute your time and word count proportionately across all tasks.
It is recommended that you use the available answer template.
Please attempt ALL tasks.

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SCENARIO

A medium sized dairy farm has had an environmental incident in which milk escaped from a storage
tank and polluted a local river. The amount of milk lost was a whole day’s production and was
estimated by the farm to be about 4 500 litres. The storage tank held milk for transfer to a road
tanker. The milk escaped when the single valve at the bottom of the storage tank failed.

Description of the incident

On the day of the incident the usual procedure had been followed. The filled storage tank was taken
to a designated platform outside to await the arrival of a road tanker. Usually, the road tanker would
then pump the milk from the storage tank via an isolating valve at the bottom of the tank.

On this particular day, the driver of the road tanker advised the farm that they would be delayed by
around 30 minutes. The decision was taken to leave the tank on the platform to await the road
tanker. While the tank was unattended during this period the bottom valve failed, allowing the milk to
escape into a surface water drain and subsequently into the river. A large quantity of milk collected
in a natural pool. The milky pool remained for an extended period before it gradually dispersed into
the main river. The farm had not considered the possibility of the tank failing and therefore had no
remediation plans in place. They simply reported the incident and let nature take its course to clean
up the river.

After the incident

Following the incident, the farmer was prosecuted by the national environmental enforcement agency
and received a large fine. The farmer was also warned that any similar incident in future would
almost certainly result in more severe penalties.

The farm has suffered a significant financial loss because of the fine and the value of the milk lost.
They have very little money available and as a result they cannot afford to employ a professional
organisation to offer environmental advice. You work in environmental management and happen to
be a friend of the farmer’s family. So, any free advice from you would be welcome. You agree to
help the farm and are aware that any improvement measures you suggest need to be practical and
cost effective. The farmer is grateful for your offer of help, and you have arranged to meet them to
gather information and to make initial suggestions. You are somewhat anxious because you know
the farmer is difficult to persuade, but you also know that they are desperate to avoid a repeat, or
similar incident, at all costs.

The dairy farm is located approximately 200 metres from a village that is surrounded by fields and
other farmland. The farmer’s family carry out most of the farm tasks, although four people from the
local village support them part-time. These workers have been at the farm for some time and are
now very experienced.

Prior to the incident, the river was very ecologically active and home to a wide variety of fish,
invertebrates and aquatic plant life. No permanent damage to the river ecosystem was done by the
spillage as the river recovered fairly quickly, but there were some short-term impacts. Also, a
number of people who abstract the water directly from the river for various purposes, such as other
local farmers for irrigation, complained that it ‘smelled a little strange’ after the spill. The incident
annoyed some of the local community, including the local fishing club, and the farmer and their family
are keen to make amends and restore their reputation.

The farm has a large herd of dairy cows. There are two large cattle sheds, a milking shed, and a
slurry pit. The farmer and their family live on site in a house and there are a number of large and
small storage buildings.

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The cattle can be housed indoors (in the cattle sheds) when the weather is bad. However, the cattle
are allowed to graze outdoors on grass meadows when the weather conditions are suitable – this is
better for the cows’ wellbeing and also saves on feed.

The cows have three types of feed:

• Dry feed, that provides the cows with necessary vitamins, is purchased in 25kg bags;
• Silage, that is used to feed the cows during winter, and is made from grass grown on the
farm. The silage is stored in large bales, wrapped in polythene to keep out air.
• Hay, that is also grown on the farm. The hay is kept indoors, in bales, and is used when there
is insufficient grazing grass for the cows to forage.

Manure from the cattle sheds is mixed with rainwater to produce slurry, which is used as fertiliser on
the farm. The slurry from the cattle sheds is taken using a suitable front-end loader (a type of tractor)
to the slurry pit, where it is stored until it can be spread onto the fields.

The cows pass through the milking shed twice a day for milking, where they are milked using
electronic machines.

The cattle sheds and milking shed have foul drains which drain into the slurry pit. If there is too much
effluent for the capacity of the slurry pit, excess is removed by road tanker by an approved
contractor. Rainwater, from the rest of the farm, drains to the river through basic storm drains (which
do not have interceptors).

The farm stores a quantity of dry (solid) fertilisers and pesticides for use on the fields in a modern,
watertight, store building, which is in good condition. The fertilisers come in 25kg polythene bags,
and the pesticides in 25 litre polythene drums. The polythene-wrapped silage bales are stored
outdoors, and the hay bales are stored in a barn.

The farm has a basic quality system in place, which is required by the farm’s major customer (a milk
wholesale distribution company). Until this incident the farm has had a good safety and
environmental record, but have not developed any formal safety or environmental management
systems. They have just employed what the farmer calls ‘basic good sense’. When training is
needed, for example with holiday cover, this is informal and mostly done by trainees observing more
experienced workers and listening to them. There are a few basic procedures that are mainly
produced as part of the quality management system. Building and equipment maintenance is done
when needed, usually when something breaks.

The farm is supplied by electricity from the national mains supply. A diesel generator is kept on site
to provide power in case of any supply interruptions. A reliable electrical supply is essential for the
running of the dairy, to keep the milk cool before it is collected by a road tanker. The farmhouse
supplements the electrical supply with a wood burning stove which is used for heating (including
water heating) and cooking; the stove is largely fed by locally-gathered wood from the farm, although
additional wood is purchased when necessary. The farm receives mains water from a major water
company.

To supplement the farm income, an old barn has been converted to form two holiday cottages for
rent. These are occupied around 75% of the time. The cottages receive electricity and water from
the same sources as the rest of the farm. Neither the farm, nor the cottages, are connected to the
public sewer. As a result, human waste is collected in a large septic tank (a domestic wastewater
tank for basic sewage treatment) that is emptied by a registered contractor at regular intervals.
General waste from the farm is removed by the local collection authority.

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Task 1: Control of contamination of water sources

1 (a) Based on the scenario only, what failings contributed to the spillage
incident? (5)

(b) You use your environmental knowledge to explain to the farmer what the
consequences of the 4 500 litre milk spill might potentially have been to
the river.

What negative impacts might the spill have caused to the river? (5)

Task 2: Determining the aspects

2 Based on the scenario only, what are the environmental aspects that are likely
to be identified from the activities at the farm? (20)

Task 3: Reasons for environmental management

3 The farmer explains how distressed they were to have caused disturbance and
nuisance to the villagers. Although the villagers were the most directly
affected, you explain that there are a number of other, equally important,
interested parties that could also be affected by an incident at the farm.

(a) Other than neighbours, who are the main interested parties in the farm’s
operations? (8)
Note: You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevant
information from the scenario.

(b) What are the moral, legal and financial reasons for improving the
environmental management of the farm? (8)

Task 4: Benefits, content and implementation of an environmental policy

4 (a) What are the benefits of having an environmental policy? (4)

(b) Based on the scenario only, what are the most important points that an
environmental policy needs to meet in terms of
(i) content? (2)
(ii) implementation? (2)

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Task 5: Emergency planning

5 The farmer confirms that the farm does not have an emergency plan. You
point out that such a plan might have prevented or at least mitigated the extent
of the spill.

(a) Other than spillage of milk, what other environmental emergency

situations might the farm be faced with? (4)

(b) What would you include in an emergency plan for the farm? (10)
Note: You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevant
information from the scenario.

Task 6: Optimising energy efficiency and alternative electricity generation

6 The farmhouse currently uses a wood burning stove for heating (including
water) and cooking, and uses electricity provided by the national supply. You
suggest that the farmer might be able to make some practical improvements
that would reduce costs as well as improve their environmental performance.

(a) How could the farm increase energy efficiency? (4)

(b) You advise the farmer that the farm could reduce its dependence on
fossil fuels by generating electricity on site.

Based on the scenario, give the advantages and disadvantages of each

of the following options
(i) wind turbine. (6)
(ii) solar panels. (6)

Task 7: Minimising waste generation to landfill

7 (a) It would benefit the farmer, commercially and reputationally, if they could
reduce the amount of waste they generate.

Based on the scenario only, what waste is generated by the farm? (8)

(b) Suggest practical measures that the farm could take to minimise the
amount of waste it sends to landfill. (8)
Note: You should use the waste hierarchy to structure your response.

End of examination

Now follow the instructions on submitting your answers.

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