The Common Industry Competencies (CIC) project team recently conducted a survey of Safer Together member companies (both QLD and WA/NT) to gauge the needs, frustrations and developments members would like to see regarding training and competency in our industry. Here’s a brief summary of what you told us.

The CIC project team have worked through several tranches of the CIC Specification in the last two years to cover most of what a previous survey conducted in June 2018 had told us. The scope has since changed so the team reached out with a second survey in late 2020 to capture the views of WA/NT members, as well as get an update of the landscape in QLD.

This most recent survey provided some interesting results, a summary of which we’ve shared with you below.

What do members want?

Across all areas, there was a shift in the training courses that members would like to see standardised and made available. Previously there was a large focus on high-risk tasks, however now members are looking for the following:

  • Leadership
  • Risk Management
  • Mental Health

Training Table.PNG

Over the past few years in Queensland we have all been on a journey together to standardise training and competency to make it easier for workers to move across projects and work areas. This has also lessened the administration workload of both Operators and Contractors. It was time to ask our WA/NT members what their main frustrations were.

What frustrates members?

“Lack of standardisation across operators and clients in regard to training and competency requirements” stood out as the most common frustration raised. The good news here is that this is a journey that has been taken before in QLD, and we now have a process in place to make the same possible in WA/NT.

Frustrations Table.PNG

For the remainder of 2021, the CIC project teams from QLD and WA/NT will continue to develop the Working at Height Verification of Competency (VoC), conduct a “deep dive” review, and consider what other competencies can be added to the CIC Specification.

Safer Together would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the survey – your feedback is what drives how Common Industry Competencies will evolve from here.

Access the full CIC survey outcomes here.

Contact: [email protected].