C0 Crane Ticket: Revised changes to crane HRW units and what it means

Let’s start with a summary of the changes to HRW units

From 28th February 2022, some major changes were made to the mandatory prerequisites for obtaining an Open Class mobile crane licence (aka C0 crane ticket in addition to C1 crane ticket) in Australia.

Quoted in summary for the purposes of this article, from the home page of the training.gov.au website:

“The Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) approved revised Crane High Risk Work (HRW) Units of Competency (units)…”

“At the request of Safe Work Australia (SWA), the Transport and Logistics Industry Reference Committee (IRC) has revised…..the reference to “a current National HRWL to operate a Slewing Mobile crane (up to 60 tonnes), and current industry experience operating a slewing mobile crane of between 20 tonnes and up to 60 tonnes competently for at least two years” contained in the units Licence to operate a slewing mobile crane (up to 100 Tonnes) and (over 100 Tonnes) have been removed.“

The need for holding a Dogman’s licence (DG) or being competent in ‘a specific VET course for HRWL to perform dogging’ was also removed, in addition to being a prerequisite for all other mobile crane licences. Again, see the training.gov.au for more details.

Impact of these changes

Without going into the reasons why this change has occurred, we feel it more important to highlight a few points as to why perhaps it shouldn’t have.

• Financial risk – how confident will the owners of multi million dollar 100 tonne plus cranes be about the ability of an operator who’s had the bare minimum experience?
• Safety – the lack of operating experience in itself hugely increases the risk to worker, structure and material safety
• Competence in crane types – an open class mobile crane ticket essentially allows the licence holder to operate any mobile crane while ONLY being required to be trained and assessed on ONE type (100t or over). These include:
  • Vehicle loading crane (e.g. truck mounted)
  • Non-slewing crane (e.g. Franne/pick & carry)
  • Crawler crane (e.g. lattice boom type)
  • All terrain crane
  • Rough terrain crane
  • Telescopic handler (with jib attachment)

Simply put we believe an operator needs more time on more machines with a range of loads before an operator starts heavy lifting on sites.

Changes misalign with our values

Our mission at On the Job Training is to contribute to a safer construction industry, on the ground and in the sky. Our purpose is to prepare our students for employment success and  we seek to deliver highest quality student outcomes.

I think you know where we’re going with this – this change fundamentally clashes with all our values as a registered training organisation.

So what can we do about this? Well we’ve made our feelings known to Safe Work Australia (SWA) and who knows, with enough industry pressure, there could well be a U turn coming down the road.

In the meantime, we’ve decided the best thing we can do is recommend to our students that they continue to somewhat follow the old guidance before these changes were introduced.  That is, get some operating experience before training for an open class licence.

Our training plan proposal

We can’t stop anybody either though, as we don’t make the rules.  What we can do is provide a more robust, well rounded quality training package that aids our students to gain a bit more experience and leave our yard more competent than the status quo.

Instead of the standard 5 day ‘TLILIC0020- Licence to operate a slewing mobile crane (over 100 Tonnes)’ unit, our company policy* will be that if you don’t meet the old criteria of holding a C2 or C6 licence for 2 years, you’ll need to show that you hold some other type of crane operating licence.  Or, that you complete our ‘Multi-Mobile Combo’ course instead.  

To complete the “Multi-Mobile Combo’ course, this will include you being deemed competent in the following:

• TLILIC0018- Licence to operate a non-slewing mobile crane (greater than 3 tonnes capacity) (Assessed on a 14t Franna)
• TLILIC0023- Licence to operate a slewing mobile crane (up to 60 tonnes) (Assessed on 25t truck mounted crane)
• TLILIC0020- Licence to operate a slewing mobile crane (over 100 Tonnes) (Assessed on 100t+ crawler crane)

Students will get the opportunity to gain experience in operating the 8 cranes we have on site in our training yard.  They will also practise lifting a variety of load types, across a range of lifts from 500kg to 20 tonnes.

But what does it cost?

The price for the ‘Multi-Mobile Combo’ for those eligible for CSQ funding is $1499. Just $500 more than the usual cost of an open class course, for an extra 5 days training.

The full price non-funded value of the above 3 units of competency is $6509. If you are not eligible for CSQ funding then give us a call and we can discuss a combo deal for you to reduce the cost.

You can split the course in half as well → so start with 5 days and come back to do the remaining 5 days another time.

Get in Touch

If you or your staff are interested in getting their open class crane mobile crane ticket while being as prepared as you possibly can be, then give us a call on 07 3807 6061 or send us an enquiry below.

*Please note that it will also continue to be a company policy to hold a Dogman’s licence or a statement of attainment proving competence in a specific VET course for HRWL to perform dogging.