Apprentice Supervision and Licensing Policy

Purpose. This policy sets the supervision levels for apprentices and the licensing and accreditation requirements for every category of work the business performs.

1.Purpose

Apprentices are the future of the business and they are also unlicensed workers under the Electricity Safety Act. This policy ensures that apprentices work under the supervision the law and their stage of training require, and that every task is allocated only to workers holding the licence or accreditation it needs.

2.Supervision levels

First year apprentices must work under direct supervision, with the supervising electrician on site and in sight for electrical work. Second and third year apprentices work under general supervision with the supervisor on site and checking work at defined points. Fourth year apprentices work under broad supervision with the supervisor contactable and inspecting the work before it is tested and energised. The supervisor for every apprentice will be recorded on the job.

• First year: direct supervision, supervisor in sight
• Second and third year: general supervision, supervisor on site
• Fourth year: broad supervision, supervisor contactable and inspecting
• Apprentices never test for dead alone or sign test results

3.Licences and accreditations

Electrical work must be performed or supervised by a licensed electrician. Refrigerant handling requires a refrigerant handling licence. Data and communications cabling requires cabling registration. Solar and battery design and installation requires the accreditation the rebate scheme and the network require. Restricted electrical work by refrigeration technicians must be within the scope of their licence.

4.Training matrix

The training matrix records every worker's licences, accreditations, expiry dates, verification of competency for plant and site inductions. The Safety, Quality and Business Support Manager will review the matrix monthly and will not allow a worker with an expired licence to be scheduled for work that requires it.

5.Off the job training

Apprentices will attend their registered training organisation as scheduled and the business will release them for classes and assessments. Progress will be reviewed with the apprentice and the supervisor every three months.

6.Breaches

Allocating work to an unlicensed or unsupervised worker is a serious breach of this policy and of the law. Any breach will be recorded in the incident register and investigated.