FAQ’s

This is the most asked question we receive here at Koolat Safety!

Over the last few years, all States and Territories in Australia have moved to adopting a national qualification to enable workers to enter a construction site.  Previously each different State had a different coloured card and a different qualification.  Now the States have adopted the White Card, which is accepted nationally.

How do you go about getting one?

That depends on which state you live in and what requirements you have.  There are several options. However you can:

1.  Attend a self paced course at any Koolat Safety training venue.  You will pay $90 and it can take between two and six hours, depending on your previous experience in construction and your ability to work on a computer.

2. We will assist you where we can and when you had completed the course you will be issued with a Nationally recognised white-card and Statement of Attainment.

We issue QLD white Cards to anyone who lives in QLD or is moving here for work.

“Across all States and Territories, including QLD and WA, both types of cards (ie. the new White Card, and the old Blue Card) are accepted by the regulatory authority as evidence that induction training has been completed.” (Italicized words in brackets inserted by Koolat Safety Quality Training Solutions).

Even though you are a legal holder of a Blue Card, we can no longer issue the previous Blue Card.  If Koolat Safety didn’t issue your Blue Card you may want to contact the RTO who did, however we suggest and recommend that you complete our white card course and upgrade to a national White Card, for the reasons mentioned in the questions above.

If you hold an old style paper ticket, which you have not converted to the new format, you must do so before you can legally work in the occupation/s for which you hold paper tickets.

Learn more about Licensing and registrations by clicking here

 Find out more about converting your paper ticket.

In order to ensure you receive correspondence about your high risk work licence from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland we must have your correct details.

‘The holder of a licence to perform a class of high risk work must notify the chief executive of a change of the licence holder’s residential or postal address within 14 days after the change.’ (Section 23 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008). Maximum penalty – 10 penalty units ( each penalty point is $100).

Contact Koolat Safety to update your high risk work licence now.

Yes. If you hold any of the licence classes that fall under the national standard, you will need to change them over to a renewable and photographic licence. Licences are being changed over a period of five years from 2008–2012.

If you do not convert to the new high risk work (HRW) licence by the conversion date (i.e. your birthday), your old licence will expire and you will be unable to use it until issued with your new HRW licence.

The date that you will need to convert to a high risk work licence will depend on the date of the last class added to your licence, which will then be aligned with your birth date (see the full schedule for transitioning). For example:

Yes. You can use your interstate EPC licence within Queensland provided they meet the following conditions:

Please note: This recognition is only on the basis that the evidence clearly identifies the holder has been trained and assessed to the National Guidelines for Occupational Health and Safety Competency Standards for the Operation of Loadshifting Equipment and other types of Specified Equipment (NOHSC:7019 (1992).

The operator of a drot or trekscavator with an engine capacity of two litres or more is required to hold a skid steer (LS) licence.

Known as a drot in Queensland and referred to in New south Wales as a trekscavator, this type of equipment (e.g. picture 1 below) is identified as a skid-steer loader as it skid-steers when operating.

Contact a Koolat Safety to obtain training and assessment for a skid steer (LS) licence.

The type of licence required to operate a telehandler or manitow depends on the type of attachment fitted when operating the plant.a

There are various attachments that can be fitted including:

As from 1 January 2012, the current legislative requirement for employers to appoint WHSOs will cease in Queensland.

In the lead up to these changes the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 has been amended to extend the certification of WHSOs until 31 December 2011.

This extension applies to those WHSOs whose recertification date falls due on or after 13 May 2011.

Find out more about changes to Workplace Health and Safety Officers (WHSOs).

In civil engineering, a wheel tractor-scraper is a piece of heavy equipment used for earthmoving.

A loader (also known as: bucket loader, front loader, front end loader, payloader, scoop loader, shovel, skip loader, and/or wheel loader) is a type of tractor, usually wheeled, sometimes on tracks, that has a front mounted square wide bucket connected to the end of two booms (arms) to scoop up loose material from the ground, such as dirt, sand or gravel, and move it from one place to another without pushing the material across the ground. A loader is commonly used to move a stockpiled material from ground level and deposit it into an awaiting dump truck or into an open trench excavation.

A backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader. The section of the arm closest to the vehicle is known as the boom, and the section which carries the bucket is known as the dipper or dipperstick (the terms “boom” and “dipper” having been used previously on steam shovels). The boom is attached to the vehicle through a pivot known as the kingpost, which allows the arm to slew left and right, usually through a total of around 200 degrees. Modern backhoes are powered by hydraulics.

Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform (known as the “house”). The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the steam shovels and often called power shovels. All movement and functions of a hydraulic excavator are accomplished through the use of hydraulic fluid, with hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic motors. Due to the linear actuation of hydraulic cylinders, their mode of operation is fundamentally different from cable-operated excavators.

A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, a blade, a maintainer, or a motor grader, is a construction machine with a long blade used to create a flat surface. Typical models have three axles, with the engine and cab situated above the rear axles at one end of the vehicle and a third axle at the front end of the vehicle, with the blade in between. In certain countries, for example in Finland, almost every grader is equipped with a second blade that is placed in front of the front axle. Some construction personnel refer to the entire machine as “the blade.”

In civil engineering, the grader’s purpose is to “finish grade” (refine, set precisely) the “rough grading” performed by heavy equipment or engineering vehicles such as scrapers and bulldozers.

A Dozer is a crawler (continuous tracked tractor) equipped with a substantial metal plate (known as a blade) used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device (known as a ripper) to loosen densely-compacted materials.

Dozers can be found on a wide range of sites, mines and quarries, military bases, heavy industry factories, engineering projects and farms.

The term “bulldozer” is often used erroneously to mean any heavy equipment (sometimes a loader and sometimes an excavator), but precisely, the term refers only to a tractor (usually tracked) fitted with a dozer blade. That is the meaning used here.

A skid loader or skid steer loader is a small rigid frame, engine-powered machine with lift arms used to attach a wide variety of labor-saving tools or attachments. Though sometimes they are equipped with tracks, skid-steer loaders are typically four-wheel drive vehicles with the left-side drive wheels independent of the right-side drive wheels. By having each side independent of the other, wheel speed and direction of rotation of the wheels determine the direction the loader will turn.

Skid steer loaders are capable of zero-radius, “pirouette” turning, which makes them extremely maneuverable and valuable for applications that require a compact, agile loader.

Unlike in a conventional front loader, the lift arms in these machines are alongside the driver with the pivot points behind the driver’s shoulders. Because of the operator’s proximity to moving booms, early skid loaders were not as safe as conventional front loaders, particularly during entry and exit of the operator. Modern skid loaders have fully enclosed cabs and other features to protect the operator. Like other front loaders, it can push material from one location to another, carry material in its bucket or load material into a truck or trailer.

A road roller (sometimes called a roller-compactor, or just roller) is a compactor type engineering vehicle used to compact soil, gravel, concrete, or asphalt in the construction of roads and foundations, similar rollers are used also at landfills or in agriculture.

In some parts of the world, road rollers are still known colloquially as steam rollers, regardless of their method of propulsion. This typically only applies to the largest examples (used for road-making).

A forklift (also called a lift truck, a fork truck, or a tow-motor) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials. The modern forklift was developed in the 1920s by various companies including the transmission manufacturing company Clark and the hoist company Yale & Towne Manufacturing.The forklift has since become an indispensable piece of equipment in manufacturing and warehousing operations.

The term Black Coal Competency (BCC) has been used for a while now by job advertisers and RTO’s alike. These competencies are certification that an employee working in mining can obtain if they have previously worked in the mining and resources industry. The certification is used as proof that a person has completed the required operating hours on any specified plant/machinery. The competency qualifications can only be issued once a worker can demonstrate that he or she can correctly and safely operate a given piece of plant/machinery.

Yes there are a few differences but the most obvious difference is that the new RII package specifically asks for people to demonstrate their competency in a range of conditions.These conditions can include things like grades, height of faces, weather conditions, day, night and much more depending on the competency. 

Koolat Safety has organised a process to be able to upgrade you from the old qualifications to the new RII sets. Remember, it is your SSE that will set what Competencies are required, however if you hold both then you will be prepared for all outcomes.

There is still a short period of time where some RTO’s will still be allowed to train in and deliver the civil competencies under the old system. Having said this Koolat Safety is now delivering some competencies using the new package. Both packages are currently under our scope and the assessments we deliver are designed to encompass the New RII Requirements.

Koolat Safety offers a process to upgrade you from any MNM & MNC Codes to the new RII competencies. The process is simple but you will need to contact us via our RII Inquiry Form.

Traffic controllers are accredited under the Traffic Controller Accreditation Scheme authorised by the Department of Transport and Main Roads to control traffic at road worksites and other events where a road closure or part road closure is necessary.

Traffic controller applications can be lodged at a Department of Transport and Main Roads customer service centre.

No. People who do not need to be accredited as traffic controllers include police officers, escort vehicle drivers, Department of Transport and Main Roads school crossing supervisors, State Emergency Service officers and people who direct or divert traffic within a car park.

It is important to recognise that every individual who controls traffic should have appropriate training and wear appropriate safety clothing regardless of whether they are required to be formally accredited or not.

To become an accredited traffic controller in Queensland, you must:

Read the Information sheet — How to Become an Accredited Traffic Controller (PDF, 113.6 KB) for information about entry requirements, Department of Transport and Main Roads processes, and your requirements and responsibilities as an accredited traffic controller.

Read the Traffic Controller Offence History and Checking Process (PDF, 97.4 KB) for additional information that may assist you when considering making an application to become an accredited traffic controller.

Since 1 July 2010, the approved traffic controller training course is only available through a Registered Training Organisation such as Koolat Safety that have had approval from the Department of Transport and Main Roads to deliver the course.

It is also a requirement under the Queensland Traffic Management for construction or maintenance work code of practice 2008 for staff engaged in the implementation of traffic management plans to be certified by an approved training provider such as Koolat Safety. Traffic Management Level 2 training Course (30864 Qld — Implement traffic guidance schemes) has been designed to achieve this training requirement.

You are only authorised to control traffic in Queensland if you are accredited in Queensland. If you are currently an interstate traffic controller, you may be allowed to undertake a shorter training course (rather than the complete training course) prior to lodging your application in Queensland. For more information, you should contact Koolat Safety via our contact form or call us on 1300 186 308 as we offer an approved traffic controller training course.

To renew your traffic controller accreditation, you must:

Read the Traffic Controller Accreditation Scheme Approved Procedure (PDF, 466.2 KB) for more information about renewing your accreditation.