Procedure for training and assessment of plant operators at RMS worksites

Transcription

1 RMS Policy Procedure: PN 066P14 (for Policy PN 066) (Work Health and Safety Manual Policy Procedure) Procedure for training and assessment of plant operators at RMS worksites 1 of 12 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager,

2 Contents 1 Purpose Scope General requirements Definitions Responsibilities Certification requirements for plant operators and trainers/assessors Verifying plant operators ability Assigning plant items to risk categories Suspension or cancellation of RMS plant certificate RMS specific resource information Reference documents...10 Appendix A Definitions of 12

3 1 Purpose Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) is committed to the health and wellbeing of all its workers and others. A safe and healthy workplace is the right of every worker. The purpose of this procedure is to provide advice in regards to the training and assessment of RMS Plant Operators and contractors. This procedure applies throughout the RMS where construction plant is operated. It is intended that as an outcome of this procedure: RMS will provide appropriate training, instruction, information and supervision, in relation to operating plant items A safe system of work for any RMS worker, contractor or other persons (including members of the general public) will be established, to ensure that Plant will only be operated by certified operators Consistent standards will be applied to the training and assessment of plant operators within the RMS Plant items used on RMS worksites are categorised by risk 2 Scope This procedure sets out the RMS internal system for the training and assessment of its plant operators and therefore applies to all plant operators as well as trainers and assessors of plant operators. All contractors/sub-contractors are required to have in place at least an equivalent procedure for managing risks associated with persons operating plant items. RMS acknowledges through this procedure the national system of licensing plant operators of high risk work items and will comply with this system for all RMS workers (Appendix A) 3 General requirements RMS workers should be able to conduct their work without a risk to their health and safety. For their part, they need to take necessary precautions to prevent and effectively manage any potential hazards and risks whilst working with plant items. RMS must consult with workers (including RMS contractors) about working with plant items. If potential workplace hazards are identified, then appropriate control measures must be used to eliminate or minimise the exposure to these hazards. This procedure documents and explains the: Certification requirements for Plant Operators and Plant Trainer/Assessors Verifying plant operators ability Assigning risk categories to plant items RMS specific resource information 3 of 12

4 4 Definitions Definitions related to this procedure are specified in Appendix A. 5 Responsibilities RMS (through its managers from the executive to the front line) must: Comply with legislative requirements and ensure that systems are in place to manage potential risks arising from the use of plant items Ensure that responsibilities are appropriately defined and that adequate resources (including financial and time) are provided to ensure effective hazard and risk management for RMS workers and others Review this procedure and associated material to ensure they reflect current knowledge of safe plant operation RMS managers and supervisors must: Plant operators must: Identify hazards, assess risks and implement controls in relation to plant operation Consult with staff on decisions that may affect their health and safety at work Ensure that plant is suitable for the work being undertaken and is in a safe condition Eliminate or control damage to plant Allow only certified plant operators to use plant items Ensure that instruction, information, training and supervision are provided to trainee plant operators Appoint plant trainers and assessors according to the requirements of this procedure and associated documents Verify the abilities of plant operators whose experience has been gained outside RMS, even though those operators may have appropriate High Risk Work licences or other certifications. Oversee and monitor plant operators to ensure safe operation of plant, according to local conditions Comply with RMS safe systems of work Undertake training and assessment as required and comply with directions from trainers and assessors Participate in verification of competence activities according to the requirements of this procedure. Record details of plant operation in their log books as directed Use plant equipment according to manufacturer s directions and only for the purpose for which it was intended 4 of 12

5 Trainers must: Conduct training as specified and use approved training materials Maintain appropriate qualifications and currency of skills Keep accurate records of training and forward records to Training Operations in a timely manner when training has been completed Assessors must: Human resource strategy must: Conduct assessments in accordance with approved assessment tools and systems Maintain appropriate qualifications and currency of skills Assessor qualifications to include as a minimum the three assessment units TAEASS401B Plan assessment activities and TAEASS402B Assess competence, TAEASS403B Participate in assessment validation or equivalent. Keep accurate records of assessment and forward records to Project Officer Road and Fleet Services. Training Operations in a timely manner, when assessment has been completed Provide and maintain training and assessment tools Issue plant safety certificates (PSC) to employees after they have successfully completed their assessments Keep records of training, certification and assessment Provide information to RMS managers about plant certificates held by their workers Accredit or approve trainers, assessors and external training courses 6 Certification requirements for plant operators and trainers/assessors Plant operators Plant operators must have as a minimum a current C class driver s licence prior to operating mobile plant. Operators of High and Medium risk plant items must maintain a logbook and carry with them, when operating plant, relevant plant operator certification such as HRW licences and RMS plant safety certificates. Table A documents the certification process for plant operators. The flowchart documents the steps that all RMS plant operators must follow, especially first time operators of mobile plant. Additionally all plant items are divided into three categories of risk (low, medium and high), which determines the level of training and assessment/re-assessment required. Plant Trainer/Assessor certification requirements Table B documents the requirements for those involved in the assessment and certification of RMS plant operators. 5 of 12

6 Table A: Training and Assessment Requirements for Plant Operators Training of Operators Operators in training will complete plant-specific training either internally, with competent supervisors or RMS plant trainers or externally with a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). NOTE: RTA trainers and assessors can be used for external training if aligned with an RTO. First Time Operators of Moving Plant (No previous experience or tickets to operate moving plant) Training and assessment conducted by External Training Organisation (RTO) - issuing appropriate statement e.g. HRW licence or Unit of Competency Experienced Operators of Moving Plant (Current HRW licence or RMS moving plant tickets of similar class or demonstrated experience) Training conducted by internal RMS trainers + experience under the supervision of RMS competent persons or alternative external training provision Mobile-Plant Operator Training Plan commenced (Form 310) Mobile-Plant Operator Training Plan commenced (Form 310) RMS logbook issued as part of training plan Maintain RMS logbook Initial Assessment You will be assessed on your competence to operate a particular plant items by an assessor who is qualified to make a judgement about your competence. The qualifications required of the assessor and the nature of the assessment will depend on the risk category of the plant item. Low Risk Plant Items Your initial assessment will involve: a practical demonstration of your skills assessment using a checklist Medium Risk Plant Items Your initial assessment will involve: a review of your log book a practical demonstration of your skills a written assessment High Risk Plant Items Initial training and assessment for: HRW items will involve meeting the standards required for issue of HRW licence. other high risk items require assessment similar to Medium Risk with a higher level of response accuracy. Certificate issued if training and assessment requirements are met Re-Assessment (every 5 years) Re-assessment standards will be determined by the risk category of the plant item. Low Risk Plant Items Your re-assessment will: be conducted by a Competent Person who consults with your Team Leader where required use a standard checklist to determine your competency there is no need to complete a logbook for low risk plant items Medium Risk Plant Items Your re assessment will: review your log book be conducted by an assessor or competent person where logbook records indicate limited ongoing performance of work a practical assessment is to be conducted High Risk Plant Items Your assessment will: Be conducted by assessor review your log book where logbook records indicate limited ongoing performance of work a practical assessment is to be conducted 6 of 12

7 Table B: Plant Trainer/Assessor Certification requirements 7 of 12

8 Training: to conduct plant-specific training you must have completed: Training modules from TAE Certificate IV Training and Assessment or equivalent, AND The relevant plant certificate (or use competent person to assist) You can determine the training hours for each trainee plant operator, dependant on the trainee s needs and progress. Training details must be recorded in the trainee plant operator s log book. Initial Assessment Requirements for assessors vary according to the different risk categories. Low Risk Plant Items Requirements for assessors are: the relevant plant safety certificate if you do not have the relevant plant certificate, you must involve a Competent Person in the assessment Medium Risk Plant Items Requirements for assessors are: assessment modules from TAE Certificate IV or equivalent the relevant plant safety certificate (or involve a Competent Person) current industry experience High Risk Plant Items Requirements for trainers/assessors: TAE assessment units or equivalent the relevant plant certificate (or involve Competent Person) current industry experience for plant items requiring HRW licences Trainers/Assessors must be WorkCover accredited and have partnership arrangement setup with an RTO Certificate issued if training and assessment requirements are met Re assessment (every 5 years) Requirements for assessors vary according to the risk category as indicted below. Low Risk Plant Items the assessor must be a Competent Person and can be the trainee plant operator s supervisor the assessor takes advice from the team leader where required assessment is conducted using a checklist Medium Risk Plant Items the assessor must be or involve a Competent Person including plant operator s supervisor (no formal qualifications required) the assessor takes advice from the team leader where required review plant operator s log book where logbook records indicate limited ongoing performance of work a practical assessment is to be conducted High Risk Plant Items the assessor must have TAE assessment units or equivalent, a relevant plant certificate and current industry experience if the assessor does not have a relevant plant certificate, a Competent Person must assist in re assessment review plant operator s log book where logbook records indicate limited ongoing performance of work a practical assessment is to be conducted 8 of 12

9 7 Verifying plant operators ability What the verification process involves. The verification process is intended to be a simple and quick check of an operator s abilities. The benefits of checking an operator s abilities prior to work commencing on the site include: Reduced likelihood of incidents and injuries from unsafe operation of plant Improved ability to meet deadlines owing to greater certainty that plant operators are able to operate plant in accordance with skills documented by certificates and log books Who does verification apply to? This process applies to any plant operator. It includes RMS employees, skill hire employees and contractors. This is to ensure that those operators, whose experience and abilities are unknown, have their abilities confirmed through observation, prior to them working on a site. How verification is undertaken Verification of contractors and skill hire is conducted by the supervisor or team leader on a worksite. The contractor must be provided a site induction, and then the supervisor will observe a short demonstration of the operator s competency and document the observations using RFS Form 311. RMS employees who meet the requirements of this procedure will provide verification by display of the appropriate current plant operator certificates. Those RMS employees with limited time on the plant item (excluding trainees) should be verified as per the process for contractors above. 8 Assigning plant items to risk categories Plant is to be assigned a risk category of low, medium or high. The purpose of assigning a risk category is to assess the risks associated with particular plant items used in construction. The risk category will determine the training and assessment requirements for trainee operators, trainers and assessors. In this way, a risk management approach is applied that will align appropriate levels of training and assessment according to the levels of risk associated with plant items. When should plant items be risk categorised? New construction plant items are introduced into the workplace A reassessment of a current plant item is required because of a change in the way it is operated Who assesses the plant item? A plant item will be assessed by a panel of people with an understanding of how that plant item functions and would be operated at RMS worksites. The panel will include plant operators, plant supervisors/managers, trainers and assessors. They will undertake a risk assessment that will apply to that plant item throughout RMS. What does the assessment involve? The risk assessment process for a particular plant item will consider things such as: 9 of 12

10 Is it subject to High Risk Work certification? Is it mobile during operation? Does it have fast moving parts or sharp edges? Is it prone to failure? Does the operation involve repetitive movements? Is it physically demanding to use? What sort of skills does an operator need to operate it safely and how much training is needed for safe operation? What sort of things can it do? What could go wrong? What does the operator have to think about during operation of the item e.g. load, coordinating movement? Once the panel has assessed the risks associated with a particular plant item, a risk category is assigned. This determines the level of training and assessment that is required. Plant items and their risk categories are detailed on the plant operator licensing and assessment page on ROMS. 9 Suspension or cancellation of RMS plant certificate An RMS Plant Operator may have their plant certificate suspended or cancelled when: They have failed to take reasonable care to carry out the work safely and competently. The decision to suspend or cancel a plant operator s certificate will be determined by Senior RMS Management in consultation with the appropriate Human Resources and/or Industrial Relations representatives. If RMS suspends or cancels a certificate, RMS may disqualify the operator from applying for a further plant certificate of the same class or any certificate that involves skills that are the same or similar to those required for the suspended/cancelled plant certificate 10 RMS specific resource information Mobile Plant Operator Training Plan (RTA RFS Form 310 ROMS) Plant Operator Verification Report (RTA RFS Form 311 ROMS) Guide to obtaining your plant operator safety certificate t.pdf OHS High Risk Training Requirements Guides Plant Items (including risk ranking) and Assessment Tools located at: 11 Reference documents Work Health and Safety () Act 2011 Regulation of 12

11 Appendix A Definitions Assessment Certification Competent person Logbook Operate Operator Plant Plant assessor The process of determining competency of a trainee operator to operate a specified item of plant against an assessment standard (internal or external). The assessment process can involve administering formal assessments, examining evidence of competency, such as log books, observing an operator s ability to operate a plant item safely, discussing an operator s performance with a supervisor. It may also include any other means by which an assessor can determine a trainee operator s competency. The process of issuing a plant safety certificate (PSC) once an operator has successfully completed assessment. A person who has acquired through training, qualification or experience, or a combination of them, the knowledge and skills to carry out that task. Refers to the RMS operator logbook that is used to provide a record of the operator s training and supervised experience. It is used to assess the operator s competency. Means to drive or use equipment, as the manufacturer intended, and to carry out construction and related work. This does not include driving, moving or running equipment for the purpose of maintenance, testing and repair. A person who is certified to operate a plant item for which they have the appropriate certificate. Any machinery, equipment or appliance. Within the context of this procedure, plant refers to construction plant. A person approved by RMS and relevant external bodies to assess the competency of RMS employees, to the required standards for the purposes of issuing a certificate. Plant trainer Supervision Supervisor A person approved by RMS to train RMS employees to a standard of safe operation for the specified items of equipment. Means overseeing a trainee plant operator or NHRW (National High Risk Work)/WorkCover certified operator whose abilities are being verified on site. It includes directing, demonstrating, monitoring and observing the operator s performance to ensure that an appropriate level of safe operation and ability is evident, including the ability to respond appropriately to emergency situations. Refers to RMS staff in supervisory positions with responsibility and authority over work involving construction plant operation. The definition includes team leaders, gangers and works supervisors. Trainee operator High Risk Work Licence A person who is undergoing training on a plant item. Nationally accredited licence for certain high risk plant items eg forklifts, cranes. Licence obtained through registered training organisation. 11 of 12

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