Environmental Control Officer Duties (ECO)

The (IECO) is responsible for monitoring all activities on a development site and ensuring that all contractors comply with the requirements of the conditions as stipulated in any environmental authorisation as well as the requirements as outlined in the EMPrs (Environmental Management Programmme). The (IECO) would be on the site on a regular basis to assess the project, its aspects and impacts and advise as to the required actions in order to ensure that all legal requirements, best practise protocols, adherence to by-laws etc are achieved and to attend site meetings.

An (IECO) should be able to provide environmental awareness training to all staff on a construction site both in the induction phase as well as ongoing throughout the construction phase.

The IECO’s duties normally include (but are not limited to) the following:

In addition it is common practise that the (IECO) would also be responsible for the auditing of the site from an environmental aspect which is usually done on a monthly basis. The results of such an audit are then submitted to the environmental competent authority so that they can monitor compliance in terms of National Legislation. Such an audit would also address aspects such as the recommendation of the issuing of penalties to the Contract Manager and Client for repeated or serious contraventions e.g. hazardous chemical/oil spills; dumping of foreign material into sensitive environmental areas such as wetlands and grasslands; destruction of or damage to protected vegetation; Damage to cultural sites (temples, graves, buildings etc.); etc.

An audit report would contain mitigation measures for each non-compliance issued raised; detail the time frames supplied for the rectification of such non-compliance issues; visual evidence of the site inspection in the form of photographs;

The (IECO) would also address and ensure that an ethos of progressive rehabilitation takes place throughout the construction phase so as to ensure that the development site is rehabilitated to a high level of environmental integrity that is not only aesthetically pleasing but ecologically functional.