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WorkSafe’s Policy on Construction Industry General Induction, January 2004 Page 1 of 15 This Document may be freely copied and distributed

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT…

WORKSAFE’S POLICY ON

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY GENERAL INDUCTION

Frequently asked Questions on “red cards” and related construction safety training issues

(FIRST EDITION, JANUARY 2004) Construction & Utilities Program WorkSafe Victoria WorkSafe Victoria is a division of the Victorian WorkCover Authority


Introduction A landmark agreement on general health and safety induction for people engaged within the Victorian construction industry established a portable and mutually-recognised OHS training scheme that commenced operation in February 2001. Its full title is the Construction Industry Basic OHS Induction Training Agreement. For convenience, it is referred to throughout this document as “the Industry Agreement”.1 The training scheme it established is referred to here as “the Industry Induction Scheme”, and is often colloquially referred to as the “Red Card” scheme.2 The Industry Agreement was developed by Foundations for Safety, Victoria’s primary OHS forum for the construction industry, and the signatories to the Industry Agreement include the construction industry’s key employer associations and unions, along with WorkSafe Victoria and the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector.3 A person successfully completing general induction under the Industry Induction Scheme is provided with a uniquely numbered proof-of-training card bearing the Foundations for Safety logo, illustrated here. (See front cover for some samples.)

The Foundations for Safety logo The Industry Agreement allowed for a three-year phase-in period to give employers and self-employed persons sufficient time to have themselves and their existing employees complete a general induction session delivered by or on behalf of any one of the signatory employer associations or unions participating in the Industry Induction Scheme, and be issued with proof-of-training cards.4 The Industry Agreement’s phase-in period expires on 1 February 2004. In response to many inquiries about the compliance and enforcement approach the construction industry can expect from WorkSafe and its inspectors after 1 February 2004, we have prepared this compilation of frequently asked questions and answers. If, after reading through this document and the further information it refers you to, you still have questions about WorkSafe’s approach to general induction training within the construction industry, you can contact us by: • Sending an email to [email protected], or

• Telephoning WorkSafe Victoria on 1800 136 089.

GEOFF THOMAS Director, Construction & Utilities WorkSafe Victoria


Table of Contents Introduction … … … … … … … … … 2 1. What is a construction site? … … … … … 4 2. What does the law require? … … … … … 5 3. What OHS training is needed in the construction industry? … 5 4. What does general induction achieve? … … … … 6 5. Is the Industry Agreement compulsory under OHS law? … 7 6. Why does WorkSafe support the Industry Induction Scheme? … 7 7. How has WorkSafe supported the Industry Induction Scheme? 8 8. How will WorkSafe deal with sites where persons have not completed

general induction, and no arrangements for such training have been made? … … … … … … … … 8

9. How will WorkSafe deal with sites where persons have not yet

completed general induction, but have been booked in for training? 9

10. How will WorkSafe deal with persons who have proof of general induction under interstate training schemes? … … … 10

11. How will WorkSafe deal with claims that other equivalent general

induction has been provided? … … … … … 11 12. How will WorkSafe deal with uncertainties about whether or not

certain persons need to complete general induction? … … 12 13. How will WorkSafe deal with instances where proof-of-training cards

issued under the Industry Induction Scheme are not recognised on the pretext that the general induction should have been provided by some other participating organisation? … … … … … 13

14. How will WorkSafe respond to allegations that general induction

training provided by a signatory to the Industry Agreement is not being conducted in accordance with that agreement? … … … 13

15. How will WorkSafe deal with allegations of fraudulent proof-of- training cards? … … … … … … … 14

Endnotes … … … … … … … … … 15


1. What is a construction site? The Industry Agreement deals with persons working on Victorian construction sites. For the purposes of dealing with construction general OHS induction training, WorkSafe regards a construction site as being any workplace, or clearly segregated portion of a workplace, where construction work has commenced, but is not yet completed. This includes construction work within any of the four sectors of the industry: • Housing construction, • Commercial construction, • Civil construction, and • Engineering construction. Construction work is work involving, or directly associated with, the building, structural alteration, services installation, finishing/fit-out, dismantling or demolition of a building or structure, and includes the on-site management, supervision and/or direction of such work, including the on-site provision or preparation of technical advice. It includes, for example, activities such as: • Establishing the site, such as installing fencing, setting up portable buildings and

the like,

• Erecting temporary structures such as protective gantries, covered ways, scaffolds and the like,

• Roadworks, earthworks, tunnelling, trenching and the like,

• Removal of asbestos conducted in preparation for, or during the building, structural alteration, dismantling or demolition of buildings or structures.

Construction work does not include, for example: • Work within mines or quarries,

• Production work in concrete precasting yards or other prefabricating yards,

• Production work within plant and equipment hire yards or plant maintenance

depots,

• Routine maintenance, repair, cleaning, servicing, inspection or testing work on or in operational factories, industrial facilities, utilities assets, traffic lights, offices, houses, apartments, schools, hospitals, public buildings and the like, or

• Asbestos removal, other than the sorts of asbestos removal referred to above.


2. What does the law require? The Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 places a legal duty on every employer to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health. [Section 21 (1)] This duty includes a specific obligation to provide employees with the necessary information, instruction and training to enable them to work safely and without risks to health. [Section 21 (2) (e)] Employers must also discharge this duty in relation to any independent contractors (sub-contractors) they engage, and to the employees of those independent contractors. [Section 21(3)] Several of the Regulations made under the Act place more specific obligations on employers to ensure employees engaged in particular work tasks or processes have been provided with appropriate instruction and training. In addition, it is also a regulatory requirement that persons engaged in certain prescribed types of work hold a certificate of competency for that work.5 3. What OHS training is needed in the construction industry? Unlike many other industries, the construction industry involves people working in a dynamic and ever-changing physical work environment, where they routinely and frequently move from project to project. The overwhelming majority of the industry’s workforce is employed by sub-contractors who conduct work on many different sites managed by many different principal contractors, and often within different construction sectors. Because this is the way the construction industry operates, the instruction and training necessary for people to be able to perform their work on construction sites safely and without risks to health is segregated into three broad categories, or components:

• general induction, • site induction, and • task training.

General Induction, such as that provided through the Industry Induction Scheme, provides the information, instruction and training necessary for anyone engaged in the industry to recognize the common hazards and risks likely to be encountered on any construction site, the accepted means of eliminating or controlling them, the general standard of conduct necessary whilst on site, and the industry-wide arrangements for dealing with health and safety issues as they may arise. It includes basic information about people’s rights and responsibilities under OHS law and how they can seek further advice and assistance.


General induction is equally relevant to all persons engaged in the industry, regardless of their specific occupation, and includes site managers and supervisors, engineers and architects, as well as those engaged in physical work. Site Induction provides the information and instruction necessary for anyone engaged on a particular construction site to know and understand the principal contractor’s rules and procedures for OHS and emergency management on that site, the supervisory and reporting arrangements, who the site health and safety representatives are, and any other relevant site-specific matters. The matters and particulars dealt with in site inductions will vary between principal contractors, construction sectors and the construction phase a project is going through at the time a person is brought on to that site.6 Task Training ensures that a person has all the competencies necessary for them to work in their particular occupation or to carry out particular types of work safely and without risks to health. Many, if not all of an electrician’s task training needs, for example, are quite different from what is necessary for an abrasive blaster, a re-stumper, a demolition worker, a carpenter, a rigger, a bricklayer or a scaffolder.7 4. What does general induction achieve? Construction industry general OHS induction training, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, means that a person can be regarded as having sufficient information, instruction and training to be on a construction site safely and without risks to health, without the need to be under close escort. In other words, from an OHS perspective, a person who has successfully completed general induction can be regarded as employable within the construction industry. Recognised proof of such training, such as that provided under the Industry Induction Scheme, is reasonable grounds for principal contractors, sub-contractors, workers’ health & safety representatives and WorkSafe inspectors to conclude that the general induction component of the employer’s duty of care under Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 has been complied with. Please Note: An employer’s compliance with the general induction component of their duty of care is not the totality of their training obligations. Adequate site induction and adequate task training are the other, equally important components, together with ensuring that, where relevant, persons hold the necessary certificates of competency for the work they will be engaging in.


5. Is the Industry Agreement compulsory under OHS law? No. Just as we do with Codes of Practice, WorkSafe and all other signatories to the Industry Agreement recommend the Industry Training Scheme’s adoption as a practical and effective means by which employers can readily demonstrate compliance with the general induction component of their obligation under Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985. As is the case with Codes of Practice, an employer may choose to comply with Section 21 (2) (e) of the Act in some other way, provided that the alternative method also fulfils this component of their legal obligation. Please Note: The general construction OHS induction training schemes operating in some other States, such as Queensland and New South Wales, are compulsory schemes under those States’ OHS laws. WorkSafe may consider recommending a regulatory approach if future experience shows that the objectives of the voluntary Industry Agreement have not been achieved, are not being maintained, or have been widely abused for purposes other than achieving legitimate OHS outcomes. 6. Why does WorkSafe support the Industry Induction Scheme? The Victorian WorkCover Authority (of which WorkSafe is a division) is a signatory to the Industry Agreement. The Authority played a key role in its development and the then Minister for WorkCover, Bob Cameron, launched the Industry Induction Scheme in 2001. WorkSafe strongly supports adoption of the Industry Induction Scheme because: • It reduces the likelihood of deaths, serious injuries and dangerous occurrences

resulting from a lack of basic awareness or understanding of typical construction hazards and risks,

• It ensures persons inducted under the scheme have a basic knowledge of their OHS rights and responsibilities, and the standard of conduct expected of them,

• It provides an efficient and mutually-recognised means by which principal contractors can satisfy themselves that their sub-contractors and their employees have been provided with adequate general induction,

• It provides sub-contractors with an efficient and mutually-recognised means of demonstrating to principal contractors that they and their workers have been provided with adequate general induction, and

• It provides individuals with a portable proof-of-training card which is valid throughout the State’s construction industry, from one employer to the next, and in any change of occupation or sector within the construction industry.


7. How has WorkSafe supported the Industry Induction Scheme? WorkSafe has supported the Industry Induction Scheme through its publicity, its publications, its website and its inspectors. For example: • Our Construction & Utilities webpage includes all available information from

WorkSafe and from Foundations for Safety relating to the Industry Agreement, including an up-to-date listing of all signatories participating in the Industry Induction Scheme.

• On behalf of Foundations for Safety, WorkSafe published and widely distributed a brochure on the Industry Induction Scheme in 2001, Occupational Health and Safety Industry Induction Training.8

• WorkSafe’s Advisory Service routinely deals with enquiries about the Industry Agreement and the Industry Induction Scheme.

• Throughout the three-year phase-in period, WorkSafe inspectors routinely made principal contractors and sub-contractors aware of the Industry Induction Scheme and recommended its adoption on the construction sites they visited.

8. How will WorkSafe deal with sites where persons have not

completed general induction, and no arrangements for such training have been made?

WorkSafe inspectors’ primary role is to determine whether workplace arrangements comply with OHS legislation and, where non-compliance is found, to take the necessary measures to have the relevant duty holder(s) achieve and maintain compliance with their legal duties and obligations. WorkSafe’s compliance and enforcement policy expects inspectors to deal with instances of non-compliance, in the first instance, through the issuing of Notices. A general exception to this principle is where the duty holder voluntarily rectifies the matter before the inspector’s site visit is concluded.9 If, after making the necessary inquiries at a construction site, a WorkSafe inspector forms a view that: • persons engaged on that site in an unescorted capacity have not yet been provided

with training under the Industry Induction Scheme, or alternative training to an equivalent standard, and

• the principal contractor or direct employer cannot provide proof that such training has been arranged to be provided at the earliest achievable date,

then the responsible duty holder(s) can expect to be issued with an Improvement Notice.


Depending upon the circumstances, the responsible duty holder to whom the Improvement Notice is issued may be the site’s principal contractor, or the sub-contractor directly employing the un-inducted worker(s), or both. The Improvement Notice will state the inspector’s opinion that the duty holder is in breach of Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985. The date set out in the Improvement Notice by which compliance must be achieved will be the earliest date that the inspector believes is achievable. In estimating this date, the inspector will take into account the following issues: • the ready availability of general induction training sessions,

• the geographical proximity to training delivery, and

• any other relevant facts that the duty holder makes the inspector aware of. In providing advice on ways in which the duty holder may achieve compliance by the specified date, the inspector’s Improvement Notice will recommend that the employer arranges for persons to complete training under the Industry Induction Scheme, or alternative training to an equivalent standard. Where, following the compliance date specified in an Improvement Notice, an inspector forms a view that compliance has not been achieved, the case will be promptly referred for investigation. Such investigations may result in prosecution. Where a duty holder does comply with the Improvement Notice by the due date, but is then subsequently found to have failed to maintain compliance (such as by once more engaging un-inducted employees or independent contractors on a construction site), the case will also be promptly referred for investigation and possible prosecution. This is consistent with the “Zero Tolerance” policy that WorkSafe has adopted within the construction industry, with the full support of Foundations for Safety, since 1999. 9. How will WorkSafe deal with sites where persons have not yet

completed general induction, but have been booked in for training?

Despite the three-year phase-in period for the Industry Induction Scheme, there are still many people who have not yet completed general induction. Even with the combined capacity of the Industry Induction Scheme’s training providers, it can reasonably be expected to take several months for the backlog to be cleared. A Foundations for Safety communiqué to the construction industry, published on 11 November 2003, recognised this reality and provided a practical solution for those


who have not yet been able to have themselves and their workers complete general induction.10 The communiqué makes it clear that all Foundations for Safety members, including WorkSafe, will accept that full implementation of the Industry Agreement on a construction site has been achieved in principle provided there is documentary proof that all those who have not yet completed general induction have nonetheless been booked for training at the earliest achievable date(s) with any of the Industry Induction Scheme’s participating organisations. The communiqué also details the form such documentary evidence should take and to whom it should be provided, including for example, the worker booked for training. This interim arrangement was also summarized in a December 2003 one-page Foundations for Safety leaflet, Have You Completed Basic Safety Induction Training?.11 With this in mind, WorkSafe will regard principal contractors and sub-contractors who can produce such documentary evidence as voluntarily seeking to fulfil the general induction component of their duty under Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 within the earliest achievable timeframe. Therefore, in such circumstances, WorkSafe inspectors do not need to issue Improvement Notices in order to bring about compliance. Inspectors’ Field Reports will note that satisfactory documentary proof of persons being booked in for Industry Induction Scheme training was produced upon request. The scheduled date(s) for such training will also be recorded on Field Reports.12 For this particular issue, Field Reports will record the matter as one of voluntary compliance. Please Note: The above arrangement is an interim policy until such time as the Industry Induction Scheme’s participating organisations advise WorkSafe and Foundations for Safety that the training backlog has been cleared and there is no longer any significant imbalance between supply and demand for general induction training. 10. How will WorkSafe deal with persons who have proof of

general induction under interstate training schemes? WorkSafe and Foundations for Safety automatically recognise construction general OHS induction schemes endorsed by interstate workplace safety authorities as equivalent to the training provided under Victoria’s Industry Induction Scheme. Persons holding interstate proof-of-training cards obtained through such schemes have no need to repeat general induction in Victoria, and have no need to obtain a Victorian proof-of-training card.


This was specifically and unequivocally confirmed in the Foundations for Safety communiqué of 11 November 2003, and the Foundations for Safety leaflet of December 2003, referred to previously. A short explanatory booklet will soon be produced by WorkSafe, in association with and on behalf of Foundations for Safety. It will set out the additional Victoria-specific information that may be of assistance to an interstate-inducted construction worker. Its title is Welcome to Victoria – a Safety Briefing for Construction Workers from Interstate, and it is expected to be available from WorkSafe and other Foundations for Safety member organisations from March 2004, in hard copy and on members’ websites. Where WorkSafe inspectors find workers with interstate proof-of-training cards, they will provide them with a copy of this booklet if their employer or the principal contractor has not already done so. Any attempt to coerce workers holding recognised interstate general induction proof-of-training into repeating induction training under the Victorian Industry Induction Scheme, or into applying for a “reciprocal” Victorian proof-of-training card will not be supported in any way by WorkSafe. 11. How will WorkSafe deal with claims that other equivalent

general induction has been provided? Where persons engaged on construction sites cannot produce proof-of-training under the Industry Induction Scheme or an equivalent interstate scheme, but the relevant duty holder(s) claim that these persons have nonetheless been provided with the necessary instruction and training by other means, WorkSafe inspectors will seek to establish the particulars of such training. This may include, for example: • Training records indicating the names of persons trained and the date(s) of

training, the organisation(s) or individual(s) that provided the training and the qualifications and/or competencies of the trainer(s);

• The topics covered in the training and the content of training provided on those topics; and

• The assessment method(s) used to confirm that the trainees have successfully completed the training.

Where inspectors’ inquiries lead them to form an opinion that the standard of training provided is inferior to training provided under the Industry Induction Scheme, the relevant duty holder(s) can expect to be issued with an Improvement Notice.


Where inspectors conclude that the training provided was, in their opinion, to a standard equivalent to the Industry Induction Scheme, they will record this in their Field Report. Please Note: Inspectors’ determinations of equivalency are made for a specific site only and a particular set of circumstances relating to that site. Determinations made in this way are no guarantee that such alternative training arrangements will be accepted on other sites or by other principal contractors as satisfying the general induction component of an employer’s duty under Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985. 12. How will WorkSafe deal with uncertainties about whether or

not certain persons need to complete general induction? The Foundations for Safety Communiqué of 11 November 2003, referred to earlier, provides general advice as to whom the Industry Agreement is intended to apply to, and who it is not intended to apply to. WorkSafe endorses that advice and uses the same underlying principles in determining whether or not general induction is appropriate for persons who may be on a construction site for a limited time and/or for a particular purpose that is not integral to the construction process itself. In determining whether or not a person on a site requires construction industry basic OHS induction training, WorkSafe inspectors will take into account the following: • The scope of duties the person is required to carry out whilst on site, and the

potential for such duties to impact on the health of safety of themselves or others;

• The parts of the site the person is required or permitted to access and the stage(s) of construction occurring during the timeframe of such access; and

• The degree to which the person is escorted and/or directly supervised whilst on site.

Where the inspector forms a view that: • the nature of the person’s on-site duties and the circumstances of their presence

require them to have basic construction OHS knowledge and understanding in order to safeguard themselves and/or others; and

• the principal contractor, the person’s employer or the individual cannot provide evidence of having been provided with appropriate training;

then the relevant duty holder(s) can expect to be issued with an Improvement Notice.


13. How will WorkSafe deal with instances where proof-of-training cards issued under the Industry Induction Scheme are not recognised on the pretext that the general induction should have been provided by some other participating organisation?

The Industry Agreement explicitly established an Industry Induction Scheme that is portable throughout all parts of the Victorian construction industry, with cards issued by any signatory organisation being automatically recognised by all other signatory organisations as equal and equivalent. WorkSafe will not support any attempt to discriminate between signatory organisations or any attempt to disadvantage a person holding a valid proof-of-training card under the Industry Induction Scheme on the basis of it not being issued by the “right” signatory organisation. The Industry Induction Scheme makes no distinction between occupations or roles because it deals with general induction only, not task training. It is of no relevance at all if a plumber, for example, completes a general induction session provided by a participating organisation whose membership is drawn from some other part of the construction industry. Likewise, it is of no relevance if a tradesperson or labourer completes a general induction session conducted by a signatory employer association, or if a project manager or architect completes general induction through a signatory union. Whenever WorkSafe is made aware that discrimination is occurring, it will seek, by whatever legitimate means necessary, to have all signatory organisations do everything within their power to ensure that the mutual recognition element of the Industry Agreement is understood and honoured by all. 14. How will WorkSafe respond to allegations that general

induction training provided by a signatory to the Industry Agreement is not being conducted in accordance with that agreement?

In the event that WorkSafe is provided with evidence that the protocols set out in the Industry Agreement are not being complied with by any of the participating signatory organisations, the matter will be investigated. Where such investigation reveals systemic non-compliance with one or more of the protocols set out in the Industry Agreement, WorkSafe will report its findings to Foundations for Safety and request that it decide on an appropriate course of action to rectify the problem. Quite apart from the Industry Agreement, OHS training providers have a duty under Section 22 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 to ensure that the way they conduct their business does not expose others to risks to their health and safety.


For example, if training purportedly delivered under the Industry Induction Scheme totally failed to address the key hazard areas set out in the Industry Agreement, leading an employer to falsely assume that a person with a proof-of-training card had a level of general knowledge and awareness that they did not actually have, then the training provider may have committed an offence and could be prosecuted. 15. How will WorkSafe deal with allegations of fraudulent proof-

of-training cards? In the event that WorkSafe becomes aware of evidence indicating that persons have fraudulently obtained proof-of-training cards, or are using counterfeit cards, the matter will be referred to the Victoria Police.


ENDNOTES 1 You can read the Construction Industry Basic OHS Training Agreement by going to the “Training” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities Webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 2 The colloquial terms “red card”, “red card training” and “red card agreement” are not official terms and can be misleading. The Industry Agreement does not specify the colour of cards issued under the Industry Induction Scheme, and not all such cards are coloured red. What they do have in common, however, is the Foundations for Safety logo. 3 Foundations for Safety has been Victoria’s primary OHS consultative forum for the construction industry since its establishment in 1998. It is chaired and supported by WorkSafe and it currently includes 25 member organisations. To find out more about Foundations for Safety and its membership, go to the “Our Stakeholders” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 4 The employer associations and unions participating in the training scheme established by the Industry Agreement are all listed, together with their telephone contacts for booking training, in the “Training” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 5 You can access the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 and its Regulations through the “Victorian Law Today” section of the Victorian legislation website: www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au 6 In consultation with Foundations for Safety, WorkSafe will shortly commence developing practical guidance to assist principal contractors in the construction industry in fulfilling the site induction component of their duty under Section 21 (2) (e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985. It should be available in March 2004. 7 Several of the Regulations made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 place specific task training obligations on employers in relation to particular hazards or particular work processes, many of which are related to various aspects of construction work. Various WorkSafe Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes, Foundations for Safety Industry Standards and Australian Standards provide recommended advice on instruction and training for persons engaged in particular construction-related processes. 8 This brochure can be downloaded from the “Training” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 9 You can access WorkSafe’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy from the “Publications” section of our website: www.workcover.vic.gov.au 10 The Foundations for Safety communiqué of 11 November 2003 can be downloaded from the “Training” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 11 The Foundations for Safety Leaflet, Have You Completed Basic Safety Induction Training?, can be downloaded from the “Training” section of WorkSafe’s Construction & Utilities webpage: www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction 12 WorkSafe inspectors complete Field Reports at the conclusion of site visits. Each Field Report carries a unique number and is electronically stored on WorkSafe’s computer data base. A copy of the Field Report is provided to a representative of the principal contractor or sub-contractor (as the case may be), and copies are also provided to relevant workers’ health & safety representatives. Field Reports summarise the reason for the inspector’s visit, the inspector’s key observations and findings during the visit, any documents provided to the inspector, and any documents provided by the inspector. Where the visit results in Prohibition Notices and/or Improvement Notices being issued, this is also noted in the Field Report.

Documents

WorkSafe Policy on Construction Induction FINAL · PDF fileWorkSafe’s Policy on Construction Industry General Induction, ... recognised OHS training scheme that commenced operation