Calls for crane course for telehandlers to be amended

Further additions to a non-slewing crane course — needed in Victoria for farmers to operate a telehandler — have once again prompted calls from the industry for the licence to be amended.

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy and the Victorian Farmers Federation called on Minister Workplace Safety Jill Hennessy to amend the licence and make it more farmer specific.

COSTS for farmers required to complete a non-slewing crane course to use a telehandler have risen and time spent away from farms increased following further additions to the licence.

This has prompted calls from the industry for the licence to be amended.

Victoria is the only state required to obtain WorkSafe Victoria’s non-slewing crane licence to operate the piece of farming machinery, with The Weekly Times previously reporting farmers’ concerns over the course, labelling it irrelevant as it did not focus on farm-specific work.

As of May 1, requirements were amplified for farmers, with the licence no longer able to be completed using a telehandler. Testing equipment must be a non-slewing crane of at least a 12-tonne capacity.

The candidate must also first obtain a license to perform dogging, with further expenses expected to be about $1400 and an extra five days needed for participants to attend the course.

In June, Member for Lowan Emma Kealy and the Victorian Farmers Federation called on Minister Workplace Safety Jill Hennessy to amend the licence and make it more farmer specific. VFF grains president Ashley Fraser said there needed to be a commonsense approach.

“The licence requirements need to reflect how telehandlers are used on farm,” he said.

In the VFF’s submission to Ms Hennessy, the group said telehandlers had become an “increasingly popular method” of safely moving hay, however regulation had not kept up with “safe and modern practice”.

“While the VFF supports the need for training, to ensure improved safety outcomes, it is critical any mandated training is actually relevant for the specific plant being operated,” the VFF said.

A concerned industry worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said the economic impact on farming communities had been “significant”.

“With grain harvest imminent, and higher density and heavier hay bales becoming very common, a decision not to scale up telehandler equipment to greater than three tonnes to avoid the licensing impost and to maintain legal compliance may also have an indirect negative business and safety impact,” he said.

The Weekly Times contacted Ms Hennessey for comment, but did not receive a response before deadline.

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