Legislative, Regulatory and Duty-of-Care Requirements for Slewing Mobile Cranes over 100 t
The framework you must know
High-risk work licensing sits inside a layered system. The model WHS Act and Regulations (mirrored in each state and territory, with variations) impose a primary duty of care on the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to eliminate or minimise risks so far as is reasonably practicable. The regulator issues licences; the C0 class authorises you to operate a slewing mobile crane with a capacity over 100 tonnes. Operating outside your class, or with a suspended or expired licence, is an offence and voids insurance.
Duties that touch the operator
Your duty as a worker is to take reasonable care of yourself and others, follow reasonable instructions, and not act in a way that adversely affects health and safety. The PCBU must provide information, training, supervision, a safe system of work, and plant that is inspected and maintained. Designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers and installers each carry their own duties, which is why a crane arrives with a plant design registration, logbook, and compliance documentation.
Documents questions love
Know the difference between a Safe Work Method Statement (required for high-risk construction work), a lift study or lift plan, a plant risk assessment, a register of plant, and maintenance records. A SWMS is not a substitute for a lift plan; a lift plan is not a substitute for a licence. Notification to the regulator may be required for certain plant, registrable mobile cranes, and some high-risk activities.
Traps
Questions blur "reasonably practicable" with "best available". It is a cost-benefit test, not a demand for perfection. Another trap: assuming the dogman or rigger owns the lift. The crane operator retains responsibility for the crane and for refusing an unsafe lift. Consultation with workers is a legal duty, not courtesy.
Rule of thumb
If you cannot name the document that authorises the task, the person who approved it, and the control that makes it safe, stop the lift.