What are the Minimum Requirements that Crane Operators in Australia Should Have?

12 March 2019

Crane operators are responsible for the actions of massive pieces of equipment. Of even more importance, that equipment has to maneuver around messy plots of land, which are full of half-finished structures and scaffolding. Quite frankly, the smallest misstep here could prove devastating. Because of the job’s challenges and the expert ways in which those powers are controlled, only a competent operator can climb into a crane cab.

Assuring Operator Competence

In Australia, just as with most other developed nations, that worker earns a cab seat by proving his competence. As a rule, a minimum requirements certification process begins with operator aptitude, but that knack for manipulating a boom and/or its chassis cannot be considered a free ticket. Sure, sharp vision and good eye-to-hand coordination are desirable skills, but these are not competency-tested qualities, although they do go a long way towards creating a capable crane operator. No, the prospective driver/operator needs a license for working with heavy equipment.

Registering With An Approved Training Company

Having registered, our likely candidate works hard to gain a high-risk work licence. There’s on-the-job training, safety course work, and numerous assessment to complete. As those successfully passed courses accrue, the trainee records those competencies in a logbook. It’s clearly a difficult path, but that’s as it should be, for this is a highly responsible position. Okay, so is this Licence to Perform High-Risk Work permit what it’s all about? Yes and no, a crane operator licence is a competency-based certificate, and it does prove the candidate has what it takes to work in a particular workplace or environment, but there’s more to “crane ticket” procurement than certificate hunting.

Job-Specific Crane Certification

If this is a small mobile crane, the licenced operator needs a drivers licence, too. There’s no point in being trained to move an articulating boom if the person behind the wheel can’t drive on a regular highway. Taking that crane ticket further, maybe the now qualified worker wants to work offshore? Yet again, he’ll need training before getting inside an oil rig crane cabin. Last of all, some employers like their crane operators to have knowledge in a certain heavy lifting brand. In this case, perhaps because the employer uses a Liebherr Mobile Crane, that minimum requirements ticket will need to stretch somewhat to satisfy the employer’s demands.

From here, all things are possible. A high-risk crane licence provides a sound base in Australia, from which the operator can ascend higher. To become a tower crane worker, for example, more on-the-job training and a CT Licence will get the cabman way up high and into that elevated operator chair.