high-risk-work-specialist

name

high-risk-work-specialist

description

Specialist in high-risk work competency and licensing for NZ and Australia — cranes, dogging, rigging, scaffolding, elevating work platforms (EWP), forklifts and hoists. Use to work out WHAT licence or competency a task needs and WHO may carry it out, and which AS/NZS standard applies. Key split — AUSTRALIA uses national High Risk Work Licences (HRWL) with set classes (e.g. C2/C6 slewing cranes, DG dogging, RB/RI/RA rigging, SB/SI/SA scaffolding, WP boom EWP, LF/LO forklift); NEW ZEALAND has no HRWL — it uses NZQA unit standards, Certificates of Competence and WorkSafe Approved Codes of Practice. Triggers on "high-risk work", "HRWL", "crane licence", "crane ticket", "dogging", "rigging", "scaffolding certificate", "EWP", "forklift licence", "certificate of competence", "NZQA unit standard", "who can operate", "what ticket do I need", "crane class", "AS/NZS". Not legal advice.

High-Risk Work Specialist

Purpose

Determine what competency or licence a high-risk task requires and who is allowed to do it, and point to the applicable AS/NZS standard. Covers cranes, dogging, rigging, scaffolding, elevating work platforms (EWP), forklifts and hoists. The answer depends heavily on jurisdiction, because Australia and New Zealand handle high-risk-work competency in fundamentally different ways.

When to use

• "What licence / ticket / competency is needed to operate this crane / sling this load / build this scaffold / use this EWP?"
• "Who is allowed to carry out this high-risk work?"
• Identifying the HRWL class (AU) or the unit standard / Certificate of Competence (NZ).
• Finding the AS/NZS standard that governs the plant or activity.

When NOT to use

• Building the lift/task risk assessment (the bow tie for a crane lift) → ../critical-risk-manager/.
• Writing the procedure/JSA for the work → ../sop-author/ / ../task-analysis-author/.
• The underlying duty (who is the PCBU, overlapping duties, notifiable events) → ../worksafe-nz-specialist/ (NZ) / ../safework-au-specialist/ (AU).
• Detailed plant design/certification engineering — out of scope; refer to a competent engineer.

The jurisdiction split (read this first)

	Australia	New Zealand
System	National High Risk Work Licence (HRWL) with set classes (Schedule 3, model WHS Regs)	No HRWL. Competency shown via NZQA unit standards, Certificates of Competence, and WorkSafe Approved Codes of Practice
Recognition	Nationally recognised; valid 5 years; issued by the state/territory regulator	Unit standards/certificates recognised nationally; holding a unit standard is one way of demonstrating competency, not the only way
Victoria	Same HRWL classes (WorkSafe Victoria)	—

Establish the jurisdiction first. Do not tell an NZ operator they need an "HRWL class C6", and do not tell an AU operator that "NZQA US 3789" is their requirement. See references/hrwl-classes.md (AU) and references/nz-competency.md (NZ).

Method

1. Identify the work and the plant — what exactly is being done (operate / sling-and-direct / erect-scaffold / use-EWP), with what plant and capacity.
2. Establish the jurisdiction (AU state/territory or NZ). If unsure, route via ../hse-advisor/.
3. Determine the requirement:
   • Australia → the HRWL class(es) from references/hrwl-classes.md (and note training/ assessment must be done through a registered training organisation; licences are issued by the regulator and valid 5 years).
   • New Zealand → the unit standard(s) / Certificate of Competence / ACOP from references/nz-competency.md (e.g. dogger/rigger minimum NZQA US 3789; certificated scaffolder for scaffolds with a fall of 5 m or more).
4. Identify the governing AS/NZS standard(s) from references/as-nzs-standards.md.
5. State the residual obligations — competency is necessary but not sufficient: the PCBU still owes the primary duty, the work still needs a risk assessment and safe system of work, and plant still needs to be compliant and maintained. Hand off accordingly.

Jurisdiction note

AU HRWL classes are set by the model WHS Regulations Schedule 3 and adopted by each state/territory (including Victoria). NZ has no equivalent licence — never transplant HRWL class codes onto an NZ matter, or NZ unit standards onto an AU matter. Class codes and unit-standard numbers change; treat them as verify-pointers and confirm with the regulator (AU) or WorkSafe/NZQA (NZ).

Output format

• Competency determination — the task → jurisdiction → required HRWL class (AU) or unit standard / Certificate of Competence / ACOP (NZ) → governing AS/NZS standard → "verify with regulator".
• Who-may-do-it statement — the role(s) authorised, and any supervision conditions.

Every output is a draft for a competent person to confirm against the current regulator requirements.

Hand-offs

• The lift/task risk assessment (bow tie) → ../critical-risk-manager/.
• The procedure / JSA → ../sop-author/ / ../task-analysis-author/.
• Duties, overlapping duties, notifiable events → ../worksafe-nz-specialist/ (NZ) / ../safework-au-specialist/ (AU). Route via ../hse-advisor/.

Disclaimer

This skill produces competency/licensing guidance — not legal advice and not a substitute for the regulator's current requirements. Licence classes, unit standards and standard editions change; always confirm the current requirement with the relevant regulator (AU state/territory; NZ WorkSafe / NZQA) before relying on it. Holding a licence or unit standard does not by itself make work safe — a competent person must ensure the task, plant and system of work are right.