Safety Training and Competency Guideline Page 1

Owner: Health, Wellbeing and Safety (HR)

Last Review: 5 August 2019

Contents
1. Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 .................................................................................... 1
3. Supervisor Training and Coaching ................................................................................................ 1
4. Competence .................................................................................................................................. 2
5. Competency Assessment Techniques .......................................................................................... 2
6. Duration of Competency .............................................................................................................. 3
7. Training Needs Analysis ................................................................................................................ 4

1. Purpose
This document provides line managers and supervisors a basic understanding of safety training. This covers
competency, basic training technique, assessment and training needs analysis. Training is important tool for
achieving safety and productivity in the workplace.

2. Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004

The OHS Act 2004 requires managers and supervisors to provide the information, training or supervision that
enables their employees to undertake their work in a safe and risk-free manner (Section 21 (2) (e)) .

3. Supervisor Training and Coaching

Effective training and coaching by a supervisor should involve:
 Checking and recognising the staff member’s prior knowledge
 Explaining the task, its purpose and why it needs to be done in a particular way
 Where possible providing a choice of learning methods – everyone learns differently
 Testing or verifying the competency of the people trained.

On the Job Training

Trainer Trainee
EXPLAINS a step and then PERFORMS a OBSERVES each step and QUESTIONS the
1
step. (Show + Tell) trainer.
EXPLAINS each step and RESPONDS to PERFORMS each step and QUESTIONS the
2
questions. trainee
Gives PERMISSION to carry out the Learner: EXPLAINS each step and then
3
process, OBSERVES and QUESTIONS DEMONSTRATES (Show + Prove)

Once the staff has completed their formal training or coaching, you need to ensure it is followed up and
consolidated:
 Recognize accomplishment (competency)
 Provide sufficient opportunity for practice
 Reemphasize the importance of the work and the way it has to be done (procedure)
 Document training and seek feedback on its effectiveness
 Follow-up and verify the competence of the trainee.
Safety Training and Competency Guideline Page 2

4. Competence

Competence Competent person

Demonstrated ability to apply A person who has acquired
knowledge and skills and the through training, qualification,
necessary supporting experience or a combination of
behaviours. these, the knowledge and skills
necessary for the task/s.

Being competent means:

 Knowing how to do a job
 Understanding why it should be done that way
 Understanding the context including workplace policies and
procedures
 Fitting in and working with others in the workplace
 Being able to transfer skills to different situations
 Dealing with everyday problems that may occur
 Being able to apply skills consistently and flexibly (adaptive)

The OHS competencies required for any position will depend on:
1. The level of responsibility attached to the position (e.g. staff member, supervisor, manager, senior
manager etc.) – these are referred to as Generic OHS Competencies. For example, identifying OHS
responsibilities.
2. The environment in which the person will be working (e.g. laboratory, animal house, office, workshop
etc.) -these are referred to as Hazard Specific Competencies. For example, first aid, radiation safety,
biosafety, working with hazardous substances.
3. The specific tasks and activities required to be undertaken – these are referred to as Task Specific
Competencies. For example:
 application of safe work procedures
 the use of personal protective equipment
 the use of hazardous substances (dependent upon risk assessment)
 any activity or process which poses a risk to health and safety

5. Competency Assessment Techniques

Where task specific training is needed to achieve competency, there are a variety of methods available to
undertake the assessment. The person assessing the competency should choose methods that are
appropriate to the competency. The following table outlines the different types of assessments and when to
use them:

Assessment Method Description Indications for use

Workplace Observation In the workplace, the most widely used  The best method of determining
technique for assessing competency is competence as the candidate can
observing actual work performance, demonstrate their competence by
complemented by oral or written completing the task;
questioning.  For high risk tasks, conduct a procedures
assessment first to ensure safety in the
training process;
Safety Training and Competency Guideline Page 3

Assessment Method Description Indications for use

Oral/written questions Oral questions are the most commonly  Useful for assessing underpinning knowledge
used in a task specific environment. required for competencies;
Written-response questions aren’t used  Combined with practical demonstration,
as often, but can be useful as evidence provides a good overall assessment of
of competence. competency.
Practical demonstration The trainee is required to complete a  Where the task can be completed in a
task to demonstrate their skills, or their controlled environment under test
selection and use of equipment. conditions.
 Where this is not possible – see “Workplace
Observation”.
Procedures assessment The trainee demonstrates to the  Demonstrating generic competencies, for
assessor verbally and/or in writing, how example those relating to risk assessment
to plan, organise and manage procedures;
contingencies for an activity. The  Where the actual process is not currently
assessor uses a checklist to ensure that accessible;
all relevant aspects are observed.  As a pre-test before allowing the trainee to
Note: The trainee isn’t required to conduct the actual activity;
complete the actual procedure with this  Where a simulation or scenario is possible,
method i.e. emergency procedures.
Written assignment The trainee prepares a written  Where a trainee needs to present
assignment or test set by the assessor to comprehensive information on workplace
prove their competence. procedures that could be used to analyse
existing procedures.
 A test or quiz may be used to determine a
trainee’s level of knowledge.
Oral presentation An oral presentation to the assessor or a  Where other methods of assessment are not
group can be used to assess the applicable
trainee’s knowledge.
Qualification/licence The trainee demonstrates  Where activity types require a licence or
knowledge/skill from prior learning by qualification e.g. electrician, driving a forklift.
providing a qualification(s) or licence as
evidence.

6. Duration of Competency
Competency must be maintained over time. This is demonstrated by undertaking the task or process
according to the recognised standard or practice. Competency will need to be reviewed or retested where, for
example:
 There is a failure to safely use and operate equipment;
 There is evidence that the standard procedure is not being followed in practice;
 There is an adverse incident involving the person performing the task;
 The licence, certification or qualification has a refresher or expiry date;
 The task/process or equipment has been changed and requires all persons involved will need to
demonstrate their competency in the new context.

As such, the person may be deemed to be ‘not yet competent’ until competency can be demonstrated
through the process of re-assessment. Reassessment can be undertaken immediately for some tasks but may
require a minimum time period for others.
Safety Training and Competency Guideline Page 4

7. Training Needs Analysis

Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the process of identifying and assessing the training requirements of an
organisation (or individual).
TNA generally consists of determining:
 what is required to complete the work activity;
 the existing skill levels of the staff completing the work;
 the training gap (if any).

The TNA should consider the following:

 What is the gap that needs to be filled?
 Is training the best approach? (Training may not help if the basic problem is lack of clear procedures,
behavioural issues, morale, insufficient resources, or unclear or conflicting goals)
 If you decide on training, is the proposed training appropriate and relevant to the identified gap?
 Who needs to be trained?
 Are existing procedures and processes consistent with the training?
 How will you consolidate or support the training?
 How will you measure and recognise competency and accomplishment?
 Who will provide the training and what resources are needed?
 How will you evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the training?

One simple way of planning training is to develop an OHS Training matrix. An extract is shown below:
Name

Generic OHS Training Area Provider 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Central OHS Induction All On-line
Local Area Induction All Manager
Addressing Hazards and Risks in the All Manager
Workplace
Hazard & Incident Reporting All Manager
OHS for Managers and Supervisors All HR
OHS for Senior Managers All HR
Health and Safety Representative All HR
Health and Safety Representative All HR
Refresher
Risk Specific OHS Training
Biosafety Labs DRes
Building Warden All CS
Campus Emergency Coordinator All CS
Critical Incident Management All CS
Contractor Management AA HR
Basic Ergonomics in the Workplace All Manager
AA = As Applicable, RTO = Registered Training Organisation, FW = Field Work
Safety Training and Competency Guideline Page 5

DOCUMENT HISTORY
Name of document Safety Training and Competency Guideline
Overarching policy Health Wellbeing and Safety policy
OHS Manual OHS Training Standard
Original Date 5 August 2019
Review History None
Author Samantha Kitchen