Reviewed by Paul ReeveI’m always pleased to review environmental training titles from ‘Shot in the Dark’ – there are many training occasions when their DVDs (and videos) have pretty much made the day, so it is good to see a new title. Well, not so much new as improved – this latest offering is the second big upgrade to its training-hardened ‘A Working Environment’ DVD. In fact, many readers will already be familiar with previous versions since it has been the staple of many an IEMA and IOSH training course.‘Release 3′ builds on the established three-part programme that was many trainers’ all-purpose environmental DVD of choice. It feels and looks refreshingly up to date, and includes a 15-minute introduction, entitled ‘One World is Not Enough’. This outlines the key issues leading to environmental degradation, including: climate change, air and water pollution, contaminated land, deforestation and resource depletion. From a training point of view, it is probably best not to show all the possible impacts at once, since it can be quite demoralising! So on to the green business case, and how to improve matters…‘Pressure Points’ is the second part of three. This is a particularly useful section, with plenty of environmental management syllabus content and discussion points, and it is very flexible. It covers how environmental issues affect business, and it outlines the main drivers in four handy modules: legal, financial, market and social.
Package price £320 + VAT
This section includes a round-up of product labelling, green taxes, the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and waste regulations. As always, some DVD references to legislation do not stand the test of time but the bulk of the references are as up to speed as any I have seen in the last year.As someone who has used the new package for training, I can vouch for the new topic menu, which, for example, divides sections into stand-alone modules. The content and style of ‘Shot in the Dark’ films tend to identify strongly with business – and, I feel, particularly industrial – audiences.The third and final part of the package is ‘Maintaining our Environment’. It starts off with a helpful, albeit brief, introduction to environmental management systems, and ISO 14001 in particular. It then covers the waste hierarchy, before moving on to practical actions to reduce impacts, notably waste segregation, waste minimisation, energy and fuel efficiency, protecting water, identifying drainage (it’s an old adage that environmental managers should start by knowing where the drains are!) and, finally, emergency response.In short, this updated title remains one of the key tools in the environmental trainer’s box.
