No printed expiry date on a Statement of Attainment for RIIWHS204E is not the same thing as your skills staying up to date. In industries like construction, resources, maintenance and infrastructure, the standard approach taken by big employers is to refresh after 12 to 24 months. This means workers need to go back to the drawing board about every year or so to keep their skills current. It’s not like the certificate itself is saying your skills are still good to go. The paperwork just doesn’t have a specific end date.
Working at heights is all about staying one step ahead of potential falls. This means planning fall prevention, knowing your way around a fall arrest system, making sure anchor points are good to go, fitting your harness, doing pre-use inspections on your ladder, and knowing what to do in an emergency. Skills go stale if you don’t use them. If you haven’t done any work at heights in two years, for example, chances are you’re going to struggle when you’re next put in that situation. A refresher course gives you a chance to get your confidence and accuracy back in a controlled environment.
What Does the Working at Heights Refresher cover?
The refresher unit for working at heights is the same as the initial qualification, RIIWHS204E. The refresher is a condensed version. It’s half a day to a day long and is geared up for people who’ve already got good skills, rather than complete newbies.
Saferight Training Academy prices a standalone working at heights refresher at $230, the same length as the confined space refresher. If you need to get up to speed in both areas, the combined WAH and confined space refresher is a much more cost-effective option. It’s $440, instead of $460, for the full day. Plus, you only have to take one day off work.
Combined WAH and Confined Space Refresher, Make Sense of It
A lot of workers in different industries need to have both working at heights and confined space competency to do their job. Maintenance folk working on industrial plants, workers on water and waste infrastructure, telecoms workers, and construction folk on big sites all need both qualifications. Refreshing them one at a time is clunky. You’ve got two separate bookings, two separate days off work and two separate costs.
The combined refresher lets you do both in one day. It covers RIIWHS204E, working at heights, and RIIWHS202E, confined spaces, in a single hit. This is a common booking for employers when they’re doing site compliance audits. They can just book one day and get all the workers they need sorted at the same time.
Working at Heights Refresher Courses, Where to Get That Done?
Pinnacle Safety and Training is a bit of an Aussie big gun when it comes to training people in tough spots. They reckon they train more people in heights and confined spaces than anyone else down here. They’ve got a range of nationally recognised courses kicking around in WA and Queensland. Their courses do a mix of online theory and face-to-face sessions on the ground. If you’re eligible for CTF funding, you might be able to get some of that covered.
If you’re in the Perth area, Saferight Training Academy is the one to call. They’ve got a working at heights refresher course up and running from Belmont and Fremantle every week, and it’ll set you back $230. Bonus, they’ll chuck in a morning tea at the training spot. You’ll get your Statement of Attainment and wallet card sorted in a couple of days.
Nara Training does the combined WAH and confined space refresher. They’re pretty serious about making sure you’ve met all the entry requirements before you even think about enrolling.
There’s also SDS Safety Direct Solutions. They’re the ones you go to if you need to get a bunch of workers chuffed up on working at heights all at once. They’ve got face-to-face options, and you can even book on-site training if that’s what you need.
Last but not least, there’s AMS Training. They do a 100% online refresher for people who’ve already got the skills, as long as you’ve got that VET transcript with a QR code to show you’ve been trained in the past eight years. That one’s perfect if you’ve got the digital know-how and a train of thought that says, “yes, I’ve got all my prior training sorted out”.
