Why was the on-line course developed?

Contractor OHS management is a serious issue for the mining industry; both from a health and safety perspective and economically. Therefore over the past two years, the NSW minerals Council have run a series of face-to-face workshops for both contractors and those who manage mine sites. Many attendees voiced dissatisfaction with the time taken to travel and attend the workshops, thereby adding further to the high costs of training.

A survey conducted at a contractor management workshop in early 2006 indicated that a significant proportion of participants would prefer flexible learning (non-attendance mode) if it were available.

Experience from the workshops conducted over the last two years and a review of the contractor guidelines suggests that employers also need to better understand the issues that contractors have to deal with. Most contractors are also employers in their own right.

In light of new legislative requirements, the NSW mining industry must ensure that, among other things:

1. Employers have a plan to manage contractors consistent with providing safe systems of work and risk management
2. Contractors provide risk assessments and safe work method statements (SWMS) within safe systems

On-line training and development can provide timely, convenient and cost-effective learning solutions to geographically dispersed, time-constrained participants.  The on-line learning course will suit contractors in the coal and minerals mining and extractive industries as well as principals’ representatives who supervise contractors.

On-line Contractor OHS Management Course

The on-line Contractor OHS Management training program is designed to assisting contractors and principals in the coal, metalliferous and extractive industries to meet their OHS and other legal obligations.

At the successful completion of the on-line course the candidate will be issued with a certificate from the Jim Knowles Group. This certificate can then be submitted to the principal or contractor when tendering for work.

Course content will closely follow that of the face-to-face workshops held in 2005 and 2006 in NSW. This material has been re-organised and condensed into two books from seven and these provide participants with the necessary information to complete the course successfully.

The overall goal of this course is to improve the health and safety performance of each contractor’s business and to assist them to meet important legal obligations. By achieving this we aim to improve health and safety at work and prevent unnecessary and costly work-related injury and illness.

This course is not designed to build a health and safety management plan for contractors. Rather it will give them the information, the processes to follow and the documentation (compiled by the NSW Minerals Council) to develop their own health and safety management plan using the tools and knowledge obtained from Jim Knowles’ and Graham Terrey's extensive experience in the field.

Who is this course for?

If you are a contractor working in the coal, metalliferous mining or extractive industries you will benefit from this course no matter whether you are in a large or small company or a sole trader. When applying for tenders in the mining and extractive industries employers require you to show that you meet appropriate OHS standards of practice. This course will assist you to demonstrate this.

Applicable in all states and territories of Australia

The course content and requirements for contractors are nationally consistent across all states and territories in Australia. Wherever you are working in Australia the successful completion of this course will help you meet the health and safety performance requirements of mining and extractive industries.  
 

You can register for the course by clicking here