eFlash #614

eFlash #614 New

Date: 28-Nov-2024

In this edition: qldwater end of year drinks - final call! | Essentials Webinar: Building personal resilience to avoid burnout | Trade waste article in Inside Water Magazine | Queensland Health released HAB FAQ | Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality

NEW / HOT TOPICS

qldwater End of Year Drinks – final call!

This is a final call for members and partners to celebrate the end of a successful year with drinks at Parliament House as well as an opportunity to meet our new Minister.

Date: Wednesday, 4 December 2024 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm

Venue: River Deck, Parliament House, 69 Alice St, Brisbane

Cost: Members $80 | Non-Members $110

Essentials Webinar: Building personal resilience to avoid burnout

We had a great response to our Essentials Webinar on personal wellbeing this week, a clear indication that water sector workers are feeling the weight of pressures like staff shortages, working with ageing infrastructure, the uncertainty of organisational restructures and concern about high-risk weather events as we enter cyclone season.

Thanks to Belinda Chapman for a great session. Belinda provided some great tools including “name it to tame it” in acknowledgement of these feelings. She reflected on barriers like psychosocial hazards, job demands, conflict, poor organisational management, lack of role clarity and inadequate recognition to personal resilience.

The presentation also included more information on burnout, the different degrees of burn and how to use self-leadership to cope with stress.

A recording of the webinar is available here.

Trade Waste Article in Inside Water

Our latest contribution to Inside Water Magazine focused on tackling trade waste in regional Queensland.

The article explores insights from Colin Hester, a seasoned industry professional, as he unpacks innovative strategies tailored for regional councils to streamline the "dark art" of trade waste management. From simplified grease arrestor requirements to risk-based assessments and the introduction of the "Category Zero" approach, this article lays the foundation for a consistent, efficient framework to tackle trade waste challenges.

Read the article here.

Queensland Health released HAB FAQ

Queensland Health this week released a new HAB FAQ on their refreshed ‘Water contaminants and public health risks’ webpage.

The link has also been added to the qldwater Water Workforce Toolbox.

Download the FAQ here.

Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZG)

The new updated water quality guidelines are being developed under the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality 2018 (ANZG 2018). As a reminder, anyone can subscribe for ANZG updates direct from the ANZG team.

Below is an update on status of toxicant aquatic ecosystem water quality guidelines (details on making a submission on draft materials are in the links provided):

NEW DRAFT RELEASE (submission closing date 4 February 2025)

RECENTLY FINALISED GUIDELINES

Following release of draft materials in 2024, aquatic ecosystem guideline values for the following have now been finalised and materials are currently being prepared for uploading onto the ANZG website (including through the ANZG toxicant search tool).