Do Our Staff require a High Risk Work Licence?
We are often this question!
If work is deemed as High Risk Work in the Work Place Health and Safety Legislation, a Licence is required for the Class of High Risk Work.
Employers seem confused, especially when considering staff operating and monitoring Boilers, Steam Turbines and Reciprocating Steam Engines.
With respect to Boilers, Australian Standard AS2593 – 2004 Table 1 states:
| Attendance Category | Boiler Type | Maximum Output Capacity | Supervision By | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Unattended Operation | Water tube steam boilers Fire Tube Hot water Boilers Combined water tube fire tube steam boilers | 10MW 5 MW 10 MW | Trained person | 24 Hour interval |
| 2. Limited Attendance Boiler | Water Tube Boilers Combined water tube fire tube boilers Other types including fire tube steam boilers | 20MW 20 MW 5 MW | Accredited Boiler Attendant (HRW Licence) | 4 hour intervals 4 hour intervals 12 hour intervals |
| 3. Attended Operation | All Types of Boiler | No Limits | Accredited Boiler Attendant (HRW Licence) | Continuous monitoring |
Definition of a Trained Person (AS2593 - 1.3.17):
A person who has received adequate instruction and training provided by the owner in the operation of the unattended boiler/s.
Is Training required?
If you operate a Limited Attendance or Attended Boiler, Steam Turbine > 500kW or Reciprocating Steam Engine with a piston diameter greater than 250mm - YES
If you operate an Unattended Boiler and cannot provide training for monitoring personal by a TAE40116 (or equivalent) Boiler Trainer - YES
Is Assessment and a High Risk Work licence required?
If you operate a Limited Attendance or Attended Boiler, Steam Turbine > 500kW or Reciprocating Steam Engine with a piston diameter greater than 250mm – YES
If you operate an Unattended Boiler – NO provided you have received proper training by a TAE40116 (or equivalent) Boiler Trainer, either ourselves, or provided by your company.
Unattended Boilers Training and Assessment Dilemma?
Now here’s the dilemma for Unattended Boiler operations and maintenance staff.
If you don’t have a qualified operator with a HRW licence in your organisation who is also a qualified trainer, will you be able to demonstrate that you have received adequate instruction and training? We suggest you won’t!
This is where we come in and provide the training.
We also recommend that you have a qualified HRW Licensed Pressure Vessel Operator on your team as well. Why? Because the cost of assessment is very low in the overall scheme of things, so why not “cover your tail” and have correctly trained and qualified persons on your site irrespective of the above standard.
Why – well when your Unattended Boiler has a Feed Water Pump, Feed Water Control Valve, or other failure that is part of the automation process; and you wish to keep it manually operating supplying steam to your plant until it is repaired; it is no longer an Unattended boiler – it is a Limited Attendance or Attended boiler.
You will need to undertake a Risk Assessment and if you decide to keep the boiler operating it will need increased supervision and monitoring, and may have to be considered a fully Attended Boiler requiring a licenced HRW Operator. Therefore if you do not have a licensed operator present on site monitoring the boiler, you must shut it down or you are in breach of the regulations and standards.
If you have an incident that is reportable to the authorities and you are investigated, and it is found that you are in breach, the penalties can be quite severe.
Having a Qualified Operator on your team makes sense in these cases.