Lifted Up: A Guide to Sourcing Quality Crane Operator Labour
Whether you're looking for a lift supervisor, a rigger or a telehandler operator, it can be difficult to source good, trained labourers for your construction project. With so many different accreditations and safety certificates available, it's hard to tell on paper which candidates are the most experienced. Here are some tips to ensure that you're hiring good quality operators for your site. After all, as everyone knows—with all the best management and planning in the world, it's impossible to keep a project running smoothly without experienced practical hands on deck.
Key Australian Accreditations
While various different companies offer a vast array of different qualifications, you should be looking for a few things at a minimum. Firstly, look for a National Certificate of Competency in the required discipline. For example, if you're looking for a rigger, they will need to hold a class RB, RI or RA certificate. Other peripheral qualifications are good to have as bonuses, but this is a basic requirement. As a reminder, RB stands for 'Basic' competence, RI stands for 'Intermediate', and A stands for 'Advanced'. These are three separate courses; ensure that you choose someone with the right level you need. They should also have a DG—a license to perform dogging. Finally, look for a nationally recognised health and safety accreditation. W@H - 'Working at Heights' - is the most common certification. If the candidate holds international accreditation, this is a good sign—but they will need Australian qualifications before working on site here.
Safety First
This is often something best discovered at their interview, but candidates should have a strong commitment to safety. This should be evident in their attitude and work ethic, not just their CV; even with official accreditation, a person can pay lip service to safety procedures without believing in them or understanding their importance. This can lead to accidents on-site, which, of course, you want to strive to avoid. As such, you should ensure that every person you hire fully understands the necessity to take health and safety seriously.
Using Hire Companies
It can often be simpler and more convenient to outsource your hiring to a dedicated company. This way, every contractor that accesses your site will be pre-vetted for experience, good commitment to safety and good work ethic. It also means that you can focus on the logistics of your project without having to deal with the HR and the hiring process. Granted, there is often a cost associated with this service, and using the service will mean you do not have control over selecting individual contractors yourself—but if these are downsides you're willing to bear, then the time saving could be a great benefit for you.
In essence, if you want to hire quality labour, you have two options: either take the time to assess each candidate individually yourself or outsource this assessment process to a dedicated specialist. However, for the sake of running a smooth, safe site, these are both commitments that are entirely worth it.