Page 1814 - Week 06 - Thursday, 19 May 1994
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Mr Lamont - the answer to the Members question is as follows:
(1) Parts 7.1.1 and 7.1.3 of the Clinical Waste Manual (1991) in
conjunction with the Clinical Waste Act 1990, sets out incinerator
design, monitoring, and Safety Device and Procedure requirements for
the disposal of clinical waste. .
As required by the Act, monitoring and recording of primary and secondary chamber temperatures, obscuration, carbon. monoxide and residual oxygen is undertaken. Monitoring readouts are provided to the Environment Protection Service (EPS) of the Department of the Environment Land and Planning.
(2) Failure of some. monitoring devices has occurred on a number of occasions, with the EPS having been advised of these failures. The failure of monitoring devices in itself does not prevent operation of the incinerator at the correct temperature; with operating temperature being the primary control measure required by the Act, and for which other monitoring is a secondary control. On three occasions in the last three years, for failure or maintenance reasons, permission has been sought and granted by the EPS for the use of an older backup incinerator. The EPS monitored the use of the backup unit until the main incinerator was functional.
(3) Unable to identify particular circumstances, or whether excess discharges occurred as a result, as operating temperatures were maintained during use, see answer to question 2.
(4) No known health risk to staff, the public or the environment.
(5) N/a - see 4
(6) The Environmental Protection Service has requested repair or
. replacement of failed monitoring equipment and this has been undertaken or arranged.
(7) Employees are trained in correct operating procedures, protective clothing and equipment provided where necessary, monitoring equipment required by the EPS upgraded and replaced as necessary.
(8) N/a = see 2
(9) Nil. Additional expenditure other than that, required from time to time to maintain compliance with existing standards through equipment maintenance or replacement. Expenditure would be drawn from operating budgets provided through the business cash flow.
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