Legislative and regulatory requirements
The framework you must know
Slewing mobile crane work in Australia sits inside a layered safety system. At the top is harmonised work health and safety (WHS) legislation in most states and territories, with Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth operating their own variants. The general duty is to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable, backed by specific duties on a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), officers, workers and other persons at the workplace.
Below the Act sit regulations and the model Code of Practice for managing risks of plant in the workplace. High risk work licensing is imposed through the regulations: a person must hold the relevant licence class to operate a slewing mobile crane of the relevant capacity, and the C2 class covers cranes up to 20 tonnes. Licensing also requires you to keep the licence current, carry it or be able to produce it, and comply with any conditions. Registration and design notification requirements may also apply to plant.
Traps in exam questions
- Confusing the duty holder: the primary duty sits with the PCBU, not the crane operator alone. Operators still have their own duty to take reasonable care and follow instructions.
- Assuming a licence authorises any crane: the class and capacity matter, and the C2 does not cover larger cranes.
- Mixing up 'reasonably practicable' with 'best possible' or 'all risks eliminated' - it is a balancing test of likelihood, degree of harm, knowledge, availability and cost.
- Forgetting consultation, incident notification and record-keeping obligations.
Worked rule of thumb
Use the hierarchy of control: eliminate the hazard, then substitute, then engineer it out, then administrate, then use PPE last. If a question asks for the best control for crane proximity to powerlines, elimination (de-energise or relocate) beats a spotter alone.
Exam tip
Read the stem for who is being asked about. If the question says 'the PCBU must', do not pick an operator-level answer.