Verification of Competency

Under the NSW Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulation 2025, Verification of Competency (VOC) is not explicitly defined as a standalone legal requirement, but it is an accepted industry practice derived from several key obligations in the Regulations:

1. General Duty for Competency

  • Regulation 39 (Provision of information, training and instruction) requires PCBUs to ensure that workers have the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out work safely.
  • Regulation 81 (Management of risks to health and safety) reinforces that workers must be competent in operating plant to avoid risks.
  • In practice, this means employers must verify that operators are competent, often through a VOC assessment.

2. High Risk Work Licences

VOC is particularly required for plant and equipment that fall under High Risk Work (HRW) licensing as defined in Schedule 3 of the Regulation. This includes:

  • Cranes (e.g., tower cranes, mobile cranes, vehicle loading cranes >10 t, non-slewing cranes >3 t)
  • Hoists (materials & personnel)
  • Forklifts (both LF – forklift truck, and LO – order-picking forklift truck)
  • Rigging and dogging work (associated with cranes and hoists)
  • Scaffolding work

For these, a worker must hold a current HRW licence issued by SafeWork NSW, and the PCBU should conduct VOC to confirm the worker can competently operate the specific plant on site.

3. Other Mobile Plant (Non-HRW but Covered under Duty of Care)

Even where a licence is not legally required, the Regulations still require competency verification before use. This applies to a wide range of mobile plant commonly used on construction and industrial sites, such as:

  • Excavators
  • Loaders (bobcats, skid steers, front-end loaders)
  • Backhoes
  • Rollers
  • Dozers
  • Scissor lifts & boom-type EWPs <11 m (over 11 m requires HRW licence)
  • Telehandlers <3 t (≥3 t with a crane jib may trigger HRW licensing)
  • Tractors and dump trucks

Although these don’t require a HRW licence, the PCBU must still demonstrate that operators are trained and competent — VOC is the standard way to meet this requirement.

✅ Summary:

  • HRW plant (cranes, forklifts, hoists, scaffolds, dogging, rigging) → Licence + VOC required.
  • Other mobile plant (excavators, bobcats, EWPs <11 m, loaders, etc.) → VOC required to show competency, even if no licence applies.
  • This ensures compliance with WHS Regulation 2017 duties under Reg 39, Reg 81, and Schedule 3.