Recent amendments to state laws will see changes to the OH&S Act and Queensland State Awards . . .

Amendment to OH&S Act: Forklift operators soon to need formal training

Recent amendments to the Workplace Health & Safety Act will require any person operating a fork lift to hold formal qualifications issued by a Registered Training Organisation where currently such persons could either learn on the job or seek a third party to train the operator.  

With effect from 1 July 2007 ONLY Registered Training Organisations will be authorised to conduct such training and assessment of operators.  

For other changes please view below a media release from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.  

Trade Union Training Authority: State Award change

As part of the Award Review process, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has approved an application of their own motion to amend the Trade Union Training Leave provision in Queensland State awards.

The purpose of this amendment is to remove reference to the Trade Union Training Authority (TUTA) which no longer exists in the form that it was when TUTA leave was introduced into awards. In essence, the amendment has deleted reference to TUTA and inserted the words “the Union" in their place. Affected awards include the Clerical Employees Award State 2002, General Stores, Warehousing and Distribution Award, and the Printing Industry Award State 2003.

Members will receive a replacement page for their awards once the amendments have been gazetted.

Contact Jette Oliver on (07) 3356 0022 or E-Mail joliver@printnet.com.au for more details

Improved training for forklift, excavator and front-end loader operators (doc - 70.5 kb) Media release from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. Details of amendments to the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 1997.