Safe Work Australia: Rollout of national competency units for working with asbestos

Do you or your company work with asbestos? If so, you may be interested to know that Safe Work Australia have announced that new Work Health and Safety Asbestos Regulations will harmonise Australia’s licensing, training and competency arrangements for workers involved in asbestos removal.

Safe Work Australia advise that the new WHS Regulations create a new licence category for asbestos assessors. The role of the licensed asbestos assessor is to carry out air monitoring and clearance inspections following removal of friable asbestos.

The new Regulations aim to improve safety standards by setting out competency requirements that will standardise the skills and knowledge required to safely remove asbestos.

The knowledge components of the units of competency rely on the information set out in the two Codes of Practice How to Safely Remove Asbestos and How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace.

Safe Work Australia advise that the four units of competency are part of the Construction, Plumbing and Property Services Industry Training Package (CPC08) that were developed by the Construction, Plumbing and Property Services Industry Skills Council (CPSISC)—the body responsible for developing education packages for the construction industry.

CPSISC prepared the units by consulting with industry, union and regulator stakeholders to determine what should be included in the training, skills and knowledge elements of each unit of competency.

For more information on how this may affect your or your industry, including transition requirements, units of competency and links directly to more information, head to the Safe Work Australia website: www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au