Water pollution risks checklist

Water pollution can occur by accidental run-off, process failures which exceed permitted discharge levels, and incorrect management of plant or storage areas etc. To help you assess and manage the risks we’ve produced a water pollution risks checklist.

Considerations

The first half of our checklist asks whether you’ve considered the risk arising from various common water pollution hazards. There are twelve in total including oil/fuel storage, litter, fire fighting and vehicle washing. As well as identifying whether each risk has been considered, there’s a check that you’ve done something about it, i.e. controlled the risk. Each question on our checklist can be answered “Yes”, “No”, or “N/A”.

Test of knowledge

The second part of the checklist runs through various pieces of information which you should have in your possession. These enable you to decide upon the correct risk control measures and influence your actions in an emergency. The questions cover information about the local environment, drains on site, discharge consents and previous enforcement action.