Check that each excavator operator can do the job safely on your site, with your plant and attachments: knowledge questions, a practical observation and a clear, recorded outcome.
A verification of competency (VOC) assessment checks that an operator can operate your excavator safely in your workplace: your machine, your attachments, your site conditions and your rules. This template gives the assessor a structured way to do it, and a record that shows how the decision was made.
It combines knowledge questions with a marking guide, a practical observation checklist, the evidence the assessor should collect and safety-critical fail criteria, so one serious error means not yet competent, whatever the rest of the score. The assessor and the operator sign off the outcome, and the Excel VOC register tracks who has been assessed and when reassessment is due.
A VOC supports workplace competency verification. It does not replace a high risk work licence where one is required. Operators must hold any licence, training or site authorisation required for the plant and the site.
Delivered as one ZIP download. The files below are editable, and every Word document also comes as a PDF. Each download also includes Read Me First, a Product Overview, the Permitted Use Terms and Version Information (PDF).
| File | Format | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Excavator VOC Assessment Tool | Word (.docx) | The assessor's tool: the practical observation checklist, evidence requirements, safety-critical fail criteria, the outcome and sign-off. |
| Excavator VOC Knowledge Questions (Candidate) | Word (.docx) | The knowledge questions, for the person being assessed to answer. |
| Excavator VOC Marking Guide (Assessor) | Word (.docx) | The expected answers and marking guidance, for the assessor only. |
| Excavator VOC Register | Excel (.xlsx) | A register of everyone assessed: date, assessor, licence or authorisation sighted, outcome and when reassessment is due. |
The VOC checks an operator against your instruction for the task. The Excavator Safety & Competency Pack includes this VOC with the safe work instruction it assesses against, a pre-start checklist and a supervisor field verification checklist for keeping ground workers clear.
Tells the operator what to do
The steps, hazards and controls for the task, written for the person doing it.
In the pack
Checks they can do it
Verifies each operator against that same instruction, on your equipment, with evidence and a clear outcome.
Included
Checks the equipment is fit to use
Every shift, before use, with clear do-not-operate criteria.
In the pack
Checks the controls are working on site
A supervisor checks on the floor that the controls the instruction relies on are in place and effective.
In the pack
What supervisors find in the field feeds back into the instruction and the VOC.
Before first use, adapt the documents to:
Before you use them
There is no national high risk work licence class for excavators, but operators must hold any licence, training or site authorisation required for the plant and the site. Some principal contractors and sites require a particular ticket or training record. A VOC supports workplace competency verification. It does not replace a high risk work licence where one is required.
Someone competent to operate the excavator and to assess others: often an experienced supervisor, a WHS adviser or a workplace trainer and assessor. The template guides the assessment; it does not make the assessor competent.
Set the interval from your own risk assessment. Common triggers are new or different plant or attachments, a change to the site, an incident or near miss, unsafe practice seen in the field, and an operator returning after a long absence. The Excel VOC register tracks when each reassessment is due.
No. There is no high risk work licence class for excavators under the model WHS Regulations, and Victoria's OHS Regulations do not license them either. The employer must still make sure each operator is trained and competent, and if the excavator will lift suspended loads, check with your regulator what that lift needs. A VOC records that the operator can operate your excavator safely.
There is no high risk work licence for an excavator of any size under the model WHS Regulations. What the law requires is that the operator is trained, competent and supervised as needed, and many sites and hire companies ask for evidence of training. A VOC on your machine is one way to record that evidence.
Yes. Every document is supplied in Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx), so you can add your logo, change the wording and adapt it to your workplace. The copyright notice must stay.
Yes. The documents must be adapted to your equipment, the manufacturer's instructions, your site and your local controls before they are used. The setup guide in the pack lists what to change.
No document can. Your duties are met by managing the risks in your actual workplace. Using them does not by itself make a workplace compliant with WHS or OHS laws. They support the work of managing the risk; they are not legal advice.
Yes. Every price in the store includes GST, so $69.00 is the total, including $6.27 GST. Your receipt is a tax invoice showing the GST.
As a ZIP download. Card purchases can be downloaded straight away from the confirmation page and by a link we email you. Download links expire after 14 days for security; you can request a new one at any time.
Yes. Use Request an Invoice to order through your normal procurement process, with a purchase order number and quantities if you need them. The files are released once payment is confirmed.
Yes, across your own organisation. The documents are licensed for internal use by the purchasing organisation. A consultant, labour hire business or training provider supplying them to clients needs separate written permission.
They are written for Australian workplaces and refer to Australian WHS and OHS laws and licences. A business elsewhere should replace those references with its own country's requirements. Everything is editable for that.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. See the Refund Policy for how we handle a document that is faulty, not as described, or not what you ordered.
Licence and legal information here is general. It may not be correct in your jurisdiction: please check with your local WHS or OHS regulator.
Ordering for a business or several sites? Request an invoice. Other questions: contact us.
Start with a toolbox talk to brief the crew on the hazard, then use the safe work instruction, the VOC and the field verification checklist to set and check the controls.
For anyone who works around forklifts, trucks, loaders or utes: how people are hit by mobile equipment, and the habits that keep pedestrians and machines apart.
For everyone on a site with vehicle movements, including delivery drivers and visitors: the traffic management plan, site layout and rules that keep people and vehicles apart.
For workers who use electrical equipment or work near powerlines: how electricity injures, the checks before use, and what to do if someone is shocked.
For workers at height and the people below them: how objects fall, and the controls that stop them falling or hitting someone.
Separating people from mobile plant is a common critical control. To manage it as one, with performance standards and field verification across the business, see the Critical Control Management series.
Safe work instruction, VOC assessment, pre-start checklist and a supervisor field verification checklist for excavator and ground worker separation, written to work together.
The safe work instruction from the pack, on its own: the steps, hazards and controls, stop points, emergencies and sign-off, in editable Word.
The supervisor's field verification checklist from the pack, on its own: checks on site that the controls for the work are in place and working.