Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Risk mitigation measures include: inspection of goods; checking that goods meet
conditions of entry; treatment if required (heat/cold treatment, chemical treat-
ment) including holding in a containment facility for observation; and either
release or destruction or re-export if unable to meet conditions of entry. Quarantine
facilities should be built to cope with the highest risk organism likely to be han-
dled by the facility (Boxes 1.1 and 1.2). This may be a highly specialized facility
or laboratory, or general facility that houses a wide range of organisms likely to
be vectors for invasive species. Items possibly needing such facilities include, for
example, agricultural crops such as cuttings, insect pathogen vectors (plants or
animals), farm animals or pets carrying diseases or weed seeds, pets, and potential
biological control agents.
Box 1.1
Notes on inspection facilities and processes
Inspection processes have inherent risks arising from various areas, but with care-
ful management and competent inspections they can be minimized. Risks arise in
several areas such as: lack of appropriate facilities to contain potential risks; poor
staff knowledge and skills; poor procedures or lack of appropriate application of
procedures such as opening sealed containers.
Actions to mitigate risks
Inspection facilities should be sited on appropriate terrain largely immune from
natural disasters such as earthquakes. They should be located near the country
entry point to minimize movement of material and the potential for escape. They
also need to be as far as possible from suitable habitats/hosts such that in the event
of an escape the likelihood of establishment is lowered.
Potentially invasive organisms (and risk goods) need to be examined in a secure
area where they cannot escape. The quarantine containment rooms or laborator-
ies need to be perceived, and function, as though biologically isolated from the
surrounding country, with a system of physical and procedural barriers that lead
out into the country. The physical isolation of the facility must be complemented
and reinforced by operational procedures and systems established to run it.
Facility components
The fl oor plan of a facility and installation of equipment should make oper-
ational procedures fl ow smoothly and have effi cient practices. Otherwise, staff
may adopt practices that potentially compromise the integrity of the quarantine
facility/system. The design and operation of the facility should focus on con-
trolling pathways of biological organisms into and out of the facility (includ-
ing by hitch-hiking on humans or materials used in the facility). This type of
design often contradicts standard design and construction used for other types
of buildings or facilities where the focus is often economy, aesthetics, and/or
