The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) took a deep dive into the Verification of Competency (VOC) licenses at the recent New South Wales CICA Industry Day.
Beginning with a welcome and The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) took a deep dive into the Verification of Competency (VOC) licenses at the recent New South Wales CICA Industry Day.
Answering the questions and leading the discussion were David Solomon from the Master Builders Association, Warwick Johnson of Multiplex, Grant Gjessing from Strait Up Cranes & Rigging, Conan Jenkins of John Holland and Ryan March of Borger Cranes Hire.
The panel was first asked to discuss how it felt about the current VOC system and the requirements by most Tier One contractors to only accept VOCs by suppliers of their choice, before moving on to examining if the current VOC system genuinely measures a worker’s competency or if it is now just a box-ticking exercise.
Next, the panel delved into how it felt about rigging, dogging and crane operator high-risk work licenses being obtainable through a four-to-five-day course, with the legitimacy of VOCs versus traineeship program-acquired skills also being cross-examined. Furthermore, the panel discussed the best way to properly ascertain the level of competence a worker possesses to complete certain tasks.
Following this, the panel talked advancements in crane technology and whether or not it is driving complacency as well as a lack of fundamental basic crane knowledge, the management of industrial relations, the future of the construction and infrastructure sectors, and how best industry practices are being relayed to workers.
Also on the agenda for the CICA Industry Day was a speech from Endeavour Energy’s Riley Bryn, discussing working safely around electricity. Discussing the Look Up and Live app, Riley said the app was a free powerline planning tool that utilises geospatial data over satellite imagery to provide accurate locations of powerlines that may be in the vicinity of worksites. According to Riley, the tool is free and easy to use, possesses a range of features and identifies the voltages and relevant asset owners.
Furthermore, Riley also said it can be viewed on a standard web browser or downloaded via an app to use on a mobile device.
Speeches from CICA CEO Brandon Hitch and SafeWork NSW’s Joshua Kent immediately ensued after the lunch break, before Transport for NSW’s Brian Sheedy provided a thorough demonstration of the new dogging and rigging handbook.
The day was then rounded out by CICA’s Paul Arztenhofer expanding on CICA’s training initiatives and concluded with a speech from Preston Hire’s Stephan Becherand. The next CICA industry day will be held in Queensland on August 8.