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Elements and Performance Criteria

1. Confirm scope of water quality management for a site or project or program
   • Read and interpret legislative, regulatory and licensing requirements and approvals that apply to site or project or program
2. Read current water quality management plan to identify objectives, known issues, specified management activities and required changes
3. Read and review previous water quality records and reports
4. Confirm that water quality monitoring sites, sampling and measurement methods, instrumentation and workplace procedures are in accordance with standards and guidelines
5. Clarify own scope of responsibility for achieving outcomes and the roles of key personnel
6. Identify resources available to conduct water quality management activities
7. Plan water quality management activities
   • Develop a consolidated schedule to ensure all activities can be conducted efficiently with the available resources
8. Develop checklists and clear work instructions to enable personnel to perform assigned tasks efficiently and with minimal errors
9. Check that personnel are competent to conduct monitoring or collect water samples
10. Check water quality monitoring equipment is regularly calibrated and maintained and that adequate stocks of consumables are available
11. Check water samples are handled in accordance with the sampling method and chain of custody requirements and dispatched promptly for analysis
12. Conduct, or arrange for, regular site inspections to monitor the effectiveness of water quality management actions
13. Advise relevant personnel when specified water quality management actions are not being implemented effectively
14. Conduct, or arrange for, additional monitoring and inspections after atypical events, legitimate complaints or government requests
15. Verify water quality data
    • Read and interpret job instructions, data and technical records in workplace information management system
16. Confirm that technical records provide sufficient information to ensure traceability and chain of custody for the monitoring activities
17. Read and compare monitoring data with expected values and identify outliers
18. Read and interpret data records to identify gaps and to check the integrity of data entry, transfers, alterations and calculations
19. Notify manager when data is incomplete or contains significant errors and clarify what action to take
20. Check if results are acceptable and within expectation
    • Compare results with expected values and guidelines and identify significant differences or trends
21. Check the reliability of results by examining data or results from repeat measurements or tests of duplicate samples or other monitoring stations
22. Assess the significance of recorded observations of atypical environmental or meteorological conditions
23. Check calculations to ensure there are no errors
24. Check that estimations of uncertainty are reasonable and consistent with the sampling method and guidelines
25. Report results that meet workplace data quality standards and are consistent with expectations
26. Investigate and rectify unexpected or unacceptable results
    • Read and interpret records of pre-use checks and calibration performance to ensure that the sampling equipment or monitoring or test instruments used meet specifications and workplace requirements
27. Establish whether human, environmental or meteorological factors could have affected the reliability of results
28. Check for obvious sources of interference that occurred during measurements or analysis of samples
29. Retrieve stored samples and assess whether they are atypical or contaminated
30. Arrange for control tests using the same or new samples to check unexpected results
31. Report unexpected results that meet workplace data quality standards
32. Identify root causes of unacceptable results and preventative or corrective actions
33. Report investigation outcomes and recommendations for improvements in accordance with workplace procedures
34. Seek manager’s advice when challenges are beyond own technical competence or when input from environmental specialists may be required
35. Keep management informed about water quality performance
    • Provide regular reports about water quality, including instances of potential and actual non-conformance, incidents and the actions taken in each case
36. Report opportunities and recommendations for improvements in water quality monitoring or management in accordance with workplace procedures
37. Maintain water quality records
    • Write legible and accurate water quality records in accordance with workplace and legislative requirements
38. Store water quality records in accordance with workplace procedures
39. Regularly read and review water quality records to identify significant trends and impacts
40. Identify problems with the maintenance and security of water quality records and resolve them promptly

Range Statement

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