PUA SES - Tree Safety Review

Project scope

The Australian Council of State and Territory Emergency Services (ACSES) has identified an emerging area of risk to SES volunteer members related to the felling and cutting of trees during storm and emergency situations.

The Public Safety Industry Reference Committee (IRC) proposed to develop three new Units of Competency and one Skill Set aimed at the capability requirements for SES volunteer members to safely remove or secure fallen trees.

VIEW IRC SKILLS FORECAST

The Public Safety IRC will have oversight of this project, which will be facilitated by Australian Industry Standards (AIS) in consultation with industry stakeholders. A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be formed for this project.

Deliverables

Up to three Units of Competency to be developed:

• PUASES999X Assess trees for compression forces
• PUASES998X Develop a plan for the management of compression forces
• PUASES997X Use equipment to stabilise and support trees within an incident

One Skill Set to be reviewed and developed:

• PUASS00037 Intermediate Tree Operations

Timeline

The Case for Endorsement is expected to be submitted to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee by 30 September 2020.

How to get involved

A Technical Advisory Committee will be formed to provide expertise for this work. If you have any questions about this project, or are a subject matter expert and would like to be considered for the TAC for this project, please contact the Industry Manager.

Stakeholder feedback on draft training materials will be sought as part of the development phase of work.

Technical advisory committee

TREE SAFETY SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS NEEDED

Work on this project has commenced and the Public Safety Industry Reference Committee is forming a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

Your industry expertise and insight is welcome to help develop three new Units of Competency and one Skill Set aimed at the capability requirements for SES volunteers to safely remove or secure fallen trees.

TAC nominations closed on Friday, 27 September 2019.

For more information about this project please contact the Industry Manager.

Consultation

24 MARCH 2020

DRAFT MATERIAL

The PUA Tree Safety Technical Advisory Committee has finalised draft Training Package materials for this project.

Feedback on draft materials closed on Friday, 24 April 2020 for consideration by the TAC.

24 FEBRUARY 2020

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for this project is continuing the development of Training Package materials.

Draft material is expected to be available in March/April 2020 for public consultation and feedback.

Summary of development

Draft units, skill sets and/or qualifications are developed in consultation with Subject Matter Experts and industry stakeholders.

Initial drafting of Training Package material (Units of Competency, Skill Sets and/or qualifications) is being undertaken by a Technical Advisory Committee established by the IRC. Comprising people with diverse expertise and experience in Tree Safety, it has ensured that the draft Units are informed by the needs of industry.

Quality Assurance

Thank you to all stakeholders who provided valuable feedback and contributed to this project.

Consultation

25 MAY 2020

DRAFT MATERIAL

The Technical Advisory Committee has considered all stakeholder feedback and finalised draft Training Package products for the Tree Safety project.

The Public Safety Industry Reference Committee is now seeking feedback to validate these drafts to ensure the proposed products meet industry needs.

Detailed mapping information, tracking changes to the existing Training Package, is also available to view.

Feedback on draft materials closed on Friday, 5 June 2020 for consideration by the TAC.

Feedback will be collated and discussed at the next TAC meeting.

Summary of feedback

The Tree Safety Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) received limited feedback on the three new Units of Competency and the revised Skill Set.

Overall, the feedback was very positive; feedback was received in relation to types of assessment tasks, prerequisites, terminology used and WHS. The TAC referred the question on the need for the development of the new Units of Competency to the Public Safety IRC for a written response.

All feedback was carefully considered by the TAC and the work has now been concluded.

Endorsement

21 DECEMBER 2020

The Public Safety Training Package, Release 2.0 has been endorsed by the Skills Ministers for implementation.

The Public Safety Industry Reference Committee (IRC) led the development of one new Skill Set and three new Units of Competency to address the technical skills required by emergency services personnel to safely undertake tree operations during emergency incidents.

At an Australian Council of State and Territory Emergency Services (ACSES) meeting it was agreed that new competencies were needed to be developed in the Public Safety Training Package to address tree safety requirements in complex emergency operations.

In response, the Public Safety Industry Reference Committee (IRC) established a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to develop skills standards in relation to assessing trees, developing work plans for tree stabilisation and stabilising and removing trees at emergency incidents.

To support the delivery of the Training Package, a Companion Volume Implementation Guide (CVIG) has been developed to assist assessors, trainers, Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and enterprises. The CVIG contains a comprehensive list of all products in the Training Package; mapping information which details the changes that have been made to the materials; regulation and licensing implications; and useful links to other information.

The endorsed Public Safety Training Package, Release 2.0 is now available on training.gov.au

The following materials were approved:

New Units of Competency
PUASES001 Assess trees at emergency incidents

PUASES002 Develop work plan for tree stabilisation and removal

PUASES003 Stabilise and remove trees during emergency incidents

Skill Set

PUASS00094 Tree Operations

Approval

13 OCTOBER 2020

AISC APPROVAL

At its meeting on the 13 October 2020 the AISC approved the Public Safety Training Package (Release 2.0) for referral to Skills Ministers for endorsement.

For more information on this project, please contact the Industry Manager.

Submission

19 AUGUST 2020

The Case for Endorsement and draft Training Package materials have been submitted to the AISC.

View Case for Endorsement

Thank you to all stakeholders who provided valuable feedback and contributed to this project.