This month we launch Revision 7 of the Safer Together Common Industry Competencies (CIC) Specification.  The Specification defines standard industry requirements for a range of Australian Units of Competence, their validity periods, and pathways for renewal. It removes confusion that has the potential to hurt people, while providing cost efficiency by eliminating duplication in training requirements.  

CICs (Rev 7) change includes for the first time a competence cycle approach that allows pathways for the renewal of a validity period on a specific competence using Skills Maintenance or Verification of Competence (VoC).  This approach allows risk-based options to reset validity period and the Specification has added the flow path, governance, and definitions to support this change.

The newly launched CIC Specification (Rev. 7) includes the first Unit of Competence where the new competence cycle has been used, a Height Safety Performance Standard.  The requirements for Skills Maintenance training for Verification of Competence are drawn from a Height Safety Performance Standard that is directly related to the relevant Australian Unit of Competence.   The Working Group is currently accepting expressions of interest regarding other competencies to apply the Performance Standard approach to – so have your say! 

The Performance Standard is a documented standard that describes the application, skills, knowledge, and context associated with a specified workplace task. It is designed to allow the holder of a unit of competence to take advantage of their current level of demonstrated skill in the workplace and so reduce the training time required to achieve renewal of the validity period.  Successful demonstration against the performance standard establishes a baseline level of competence to perform the task in the workplace and will result in the issuance of certification that renews the validity period for the Unit of Competence.

In the future these Performance Standards will underpin the VoC and / or Skills Maintenance process for an increasing number of units of competence (see CIC Specification Section 5 for more).

Why have Safer Together developed Common Industry Competencies?  Operators and Contractors within the industry had frequently established their own individual requirements for safety training and competence, and there were inconsistencies in these requirements across the industry. As a result, demonstrating the competence of Contractor workers to meet the different requirements of Operator clients across various sites created an unnecessary administrative burden and cost for Contractors and Operators alike.

Section 5 of the CIC Specification contains the details of the Units of Competence and High Risk Work Licenses that so far have been standardised across the industry.

The Specification also requires that CIC records be maintained.  These records shall be:

  • Subject to verification to confirm that they are valid, &
  • Stored in a secure manner and in accordance with relevant Privacy legislation.

Click the following links to find everything you need to adopt the CIC Specification, including all supporting documentation and frequently asked questions.

The Competence & Behaviour Working Group is seeking feedback for other competencies to apply the Performance Standard approach to.  Send your suggestions to: [email protected].   The Group is also seeking new Members, click here to nominate to join the Group.