Check that each worker can use ladders safely at your workplace, with your equipment: knowledge questions, a practical observation and a clear, recorded outcome.
A verification of competency (VOC) assessment checks that a worker can use ladders safely in your workplace: your equipment, its guards and controls, your 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 worker 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. No licence is needed to use a ladder, but the work must be planned so that a ladder is used only where a safer way of working at height is not reasonably practicable. A VOC does not change that.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ladder VOC Assessment Tool | Word (.docx) | The assessor's tool: the practical observation checklist, evidence requirements, safety-critical fail criteria, the outcome and sign-off. |
| Ladder VOC Knowledge Questions (Candidate) | Word (.docx) | The knowledge questions, for the person being assessed to answer. |
| Ladder VOC Marking Guide (Assessor) | Word (.docx) | The expected answers and marking guidance, for the assessor only. |
| Ladder VOC Register | Excel (.xlsx) | A register of everyone assessed: date, assessor, licence or authorisation sighted, outcome and when reassessment is due. |
The VOC checks a worker against your instruction for the work. The Ladder Safety & Competency Pack includes this VOC with the safe work instruction it assesses against, the pre-use checklist and a supervisor field verification checklist.
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
Before each use, with clear do-not-use criteria and what to do with a fault.
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
No. A VOC supports workplace competency verification. It does not replace a high risk work licence where one is required. No licence is needed to use a ladder, but the work must be planned so that a ladder is used only where a safer way of working at height is not reasonably practicable. A VOC does not change that.
Someone competent in the work and in assessing 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 equipment, a change to the site or procedure, an incident or near miss, unsafe practice seen in the field, and someone returning after a long absence. The Excel VOC register tracks when each reassessment is due.
No. No licence is needed to use a ladder, but the work must be planned so that a ladder is used only where a safer way of working at height is not reasonably practicable, and the person must know how to use it safely. A VOC records that the worker can use your ladders safely.
Keep two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand, on the ladder when climbing it or working from it. That means tools are carried in a belt or raised separately, not held in the hand while climbing. The safe work instruction sets out this and the other ladder rules.
A safe work method statement (SWMS) is a document WHS and OHS laws require before certain listed high risk work, such as work on a building site with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres; it sets out the hazards and controls for that work. A safe work instruction is a step-by-step guide for doing one task or using one piece of equipment safely, written for the person doing it. Many workplaces use both. The safe work instruction gives workers the steps, and the field verification checks on site that they are followed.
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 workers who use ladders, platforms, roofs or anything off the ground: why falls kill, and the order of controls that prevents them.
For workers at height and the people below them: how objects fall, and the controls that stop them falling or hitting someone.
Fall prevention at height 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-use checklist and a supervisor field verification checklist, 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.