Managing biosecurity risks to your business

Biosecurity helps protect your business against the entry and spread of pests, diseases and contaminants. It plays a vital role in safeguarding industries, the environment and our communities.

Biosecurity risks are not limited to agriculture or primary industries. Biosecurity is critical across all sectors—transport, education, energy, natural resources, manufacturing, tourism, and small businesses that import goods or sell items online.

If you understand your biosecurity obligations and proactively manage biosecurity risks, you can:

  • protect your business operations
  • strengthen supply chains
  • enhance your reputation.

Understand the impact of biosecurity events

A biosecurity event is an event that is caused by a pest, disease or contaminant and poses or may become a significant threat to human health, social amenity, the economy or the environment.

During a biosecurity event, your business may be faced with many overlapping issues that will all need to be managed. Understanding the potential impact of a biosecurity event on your business enables you to prioritise critical functions, allocate resources effectively and make informed decisions to maintain business continuity.

Operation and supply chain disruption

Impact

An outbreak of a pest, disease or contaminant such as foot-and-mouth disease, fruit fly or brown marmorated stink bug can disrupt the normal flow of goods and services across the supply chain. This may cause:

  • delivery delays
  • shortages of raw materials
  • trade restrictions
  • closure of attractions or event spaces
  • movement controls
  • limited or conditional access to properties where you carry out your business.

Example

A logistics company faced weeks of delays when imported goods were quarantined due to pest contamination.

Reputation damage

Impact

A biosecurity breach linked to your operations may:

  • damage customer or community trust
  • undermine social licence
  • lead to product recalls
  • generate negative media coverage.

Example

A retailer lost customer trust after contaminated shipments led to product recalls and negative media coverage.

Financial consequences

Impact

Not being prepared for a biosecurity risk or failing to identify a biosecurity risk early could impact your bottom line. You could face costs associated with:

  • mandatory site inspections
  • fumigation
  • compliance measures
  • temporary business closures.

Example

A manufacturer incurred significant expenses when fumigation requirements delayed critical components, halting production.

Manage biosecurity risks

Under the Biosecurity Act 2014, everyone in Queensland has a general biosecurity obligation to ensure that they do not spread a pest, disease or contaminant.

Understand your risks

To manage the biosecurity risks of your business, you will need to take all reasonable and practical steps to prevent or minimise the risks.

The steps you take will depend on:

  • the type of business you run, including how and where you conduct business
  • the likelihood of the risks occurring (more action for a higher likelihood)
  • how serious the adverse impacts could be (for example, temporary business closure or extensive productivity loss)
  • what you know, or should reasonably be expected to know, about the risks (such as how dangerous they are and how they are spread)
  • how you can minimise the risks (such as by using specific equipment or work practices)
  • how effective particular actions would be in minimising the risks
  • the feasibility and expense of the actions (for example, whether the costs are proportionate to the risks).

You can watch a video about the general biosecurity obligation to find out more about what it is and how it applies to you.

Minimise your risks

There are measures you can put in place to protect your business livelihood and reputation from biosecurity threats.

Communicate with customers

Be a biosecurity champion. Highlight your commitment to protecting supply chains and product quality, and be transparent about potential delays caused by biosecurity measures.

Keep records

Know what goods and services you have received or distributed. During a biosecurity event, good records can help to:

  • identify the source of a pest, disease or contaminant
  • rapidly track movements and at-risk areas.

Know your biosecurity zones

Take care if you receive goods such as hay, soil or plant materials, or if you move these goods between places or biosecurity zones.

  • Biosecurity zones and movement restrictions apply throughout Queensland—be aware of and comply with relevant requirements.
  • Read about biosecurity zones in Queensland and see if your business operates within a zone.

Come clean, go clean

If your staff or equipment move between places or biosecurity zones, take steps to reduce the likelihood of spreading pests, diseases and contaminants (such as weed seeds).

Monitor for hitchhiker pests

Hitchhiker pests don’t just hide in packaging you receive from overseas—they can also hide in goods, equipment and vehicles you move or receive locally.

Access biosecurity training and resources

Embed biosecurity training for all employees, especially those in logistics, procurement or facilities management. This will help them recognise, report and respond to potential risks.

Training

Encourage your staff to visit the National Biosecurity Training Hub and complete courses such as:

Resources

Promote biosecurity in your business using these resources:

Learn about Biosecurity in the Boardroom

Biosecurity in the Boardroom is an initiative that aims to raise awareness of managing biosecurity risks across the corporate sector.

Stay informed