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Mobile Scaffold VOC Assessment Template

Check that each worker can assemble, move and use a mobile scaffold safely on your site: knowledge questions, a practical observation and a clear, recorded outcome.

  • EquipmentMobile scaffold
  • TaskWorking at heights
  • DocumentsVOC assessment
  • FormatsWord (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), editable
  • CodeDOC-MSC-VOC
  • Version1.0 · 538 KB ZIP

About this document

A verification of competency (VOC) assessment checks that a worker can assemble, inspect, move and use your mobile scaffold safely: your scaffold system, the manufacturer's instructions, your ground 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. Scaffolding work where a person or thing could fall more than 4 metres from the scaffold requires a scaffolding high risk work licence. A VOC does not replace it.

Who it is for

  • Supervisors who sign off workers using mobile scaffolds
  • Construction, maintenance, facilities and fit-out businesses
  • WHS advisers setting one standard across sites
  • Workplace assessors verifying workers for an employer

What it helps you do

  • Assess every worker against the same standard, on your own site
  • Record the evidence behind each competent or not yet competent decision
  • Stop the assessment on a safety-critical error, whatever the rest of the score
  • Track who has been assessed, by whom, and when reassessment is due
  • Keep a clear record to show a client, auditor or inspector how workers were verified

What is included

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).

FileFormatWhat it is for
Mobile Scaffold VOC Assessment ToolWord (.docx)The assessor's tool: the practical observation checklist, evidence requirements, safety-critical fail criteria, the outcome and sign-off.
Mobile Scaffold VOC Knowledge Questions (Candidate)Word (.docx)The knowledge questions, for the person being assessed to answer.
Mobile Scaffold VOC Marking Guide (Assessor)Word (.docx)The expected answers and marking guidance, for the assessor only.
Mobile Scaffold VOC RegisterExcel (.xlsx)A register of everyone assessed: date, assessor, licence or authorisation sighted, outcome and when reassessment is due.

How the documents work together

The VOC checks a worker against your instruction for the work. The Mobile Scaffold Safety & Competency Pack includes this VOC with the safe work instruction it assesses against, the pre-use and handover check and a supervisor field verification checklist.

Safe work instruction

Tells the operator what to do

The steps, hazards and controls for the task, written for the person doing it.

In the pack

VOC assessment

Checks they can do it

Verifies each operator against that same instruction, on your equipment, with evidence and a clear outcome.

Included

Pre-use and handover check

Checks the scaffold is safe to use

Before each use and after any change: castors, bracing, guardrails, ground and height-to-base ratio.

In the pack

Field verification

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.

Set it up for your site

Before first use, adapt the documents to:

  • Your equipment: make, model, capacity, attachments and any site-specific modifications
  • The manufacturer's operating instructions and data plate, which take priority over anything generic
  • Your site layout: traffic routes, pedestrian walkways, exclusion zones, loading areas and speed limits
  • Your local controls, procedures, emergency arrangements and reporting lines
  • Consult the workers who do the task, and your Health and Safety Representative if you have one
  • Review the documents after an incident, a near miss, new equipment or a change to the site

What you need

  • An assessor competent with your mobile scaffold system and in assessing others
  • The worker's scaffolding licence where one is required, sighted before the assessment
  • The scaffold and the manufacturer's assembly instructions
  • A safe, level area where the scaffold can be assembled and used

Training

For workers using the scaffold, Orana Skills Centre runs face-to-face Working at Heights training.

Before you use them

  • A VOC supports workplace competency verification. It does not replace a high risk work licence where one is required.
  • Scaffolding work where a person or thing could fall more than 4 metres from the scaffold requires a scaffolding high risk work licence. A VOC does not replace it.
  • The documents must be adapted to your equipment, the manufacturer's instructions, your site and your local controls before they are used.
  • 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.

Questions about this document

Does the VOC replace a licence?

No. A VOC supports workplace competency verification. It does not replace a high risk work licence where one is required. Scaffolding work where a person or thing could fall more than 4 metres from the scaffold requires a scaffolding high risk work licence. A VOC does not replace it.

Who should conduct the assessment?

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.

How often should workers be reassessed?

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.

What height do you need a scaffolding licence?

A scaffolding high risk work licence is needed for scaffolding work (erecting, altering or dismantling a scaffold) where a person or thing could fall more than 4 metres from the scaffold. Below that, no licence is needed, but the person must be competent and follow the manufacturer's instructions for the mobile scaffold. A VOC checks the worker against your instruction; it does not replace a licence.

Do you need a licence to use a mobile scaffold?

Working from a mobile scaffold that has been correctly assembled does not need a licence. Assembling, altering or dismantling it is scaffolding work, which needs a licence if a person or thing could fall more than 4 metres. The pre-use and handover check in the pack checks the scaffold before anyone climbs it.

Can we edit the documents?

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.

Do we need to adapt them before use?

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.

Will these documents make us compliant?

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.

Is GST included in the price?

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.

How are the files delivered?

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.

Can we order by invoice, or for several sites?

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.

Can we use them at more than one site?

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.

Can we use them outside Australia?

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.

What is your refund policy?

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.

Goes well with

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.

Working at Heights Awareness

For: All workersDuration: 20–30 minutes

For workers who use ladders, platforms, roofs or anything off the ground: why falls kill, and the order of controls that prevents them.

What's included
  • Editable slides with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide and participant handout
  • Multiple-choice assessment with answer key
  • Attendance record form and certificate template

Dropped Objects Awareness

For: Workers who work at height or below itDuration: 20–30 minutes

For workers at height and the people below them: how objects fall, and the controls that stop them falling or hitting someone.

What's included
  • Editable slides with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide and participant handout
  • Multiple-choice assessment with answer key
  • Attendance record form and certificate template

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.

Related documents

Mobile Scaffold Safety & Competency Pack

For: Businesses that use mobile scaffolds

Safe work instruction, VOC assessment, pre-use and handover check and a supervisor field verification checklist for mobile scaffolds, written to work together.

What's included
  • Mobile Scaffold safe work instruction
  • Mobile Scaffold VOC assessment, with an Excel VOC register
  • Pre-use and handover check and supervisor field verification checklist
  • Setup guide: what to adapt for your site

Mobile Scaffold Safe Work Instruction Template

For: Owners, supervisors and WHS advisers

The safe work instruction from the pack, on its own: the steps, hazards and controls, stop points, emergencies and sign-off, in editable Word.

What's included
  • Step-by-step instruction with clear stop points
  • Hazards and controls, most effective first
  • Emergencies, consultation, approval and review
  • Worker acknowledgement, plus a setup note

Mobile Scaffold Field Verification Checklist

For: Supervisors, managers and WHS advisers

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.

What's included
  • Checks marked Pass, Not met or N/A, with the evidence seen
  • Critical controls marked, with same-shift escalation
  • Questions for the people doing the work
  • Actions, owners, due dates and sign-off, plus a setup note