The 'Work Safely in the Construction Industry' OHS Induction Course in Australia

Australia-wide all personnel involved in the construction industry must be issued a white card and undergo the OHS induction before they can start work. This includes the construction of houses, renovations, tiling, plumbers, repairs, refurbishment, carpenters and asbestos removalists, to name a few. Topics included in the 'Work safely in the construction industry' OHS induction are as follows:

• How to identify workplace health and safety (WH&S) requirements,
• Training on how to identify hazards and subsequent control methods,
• How to identify WH&S reporting processes and communication methods,
• Incidence response procedures, including the Workplace Health and Safety Act, Risk management, Safety plans, Emergency procedures, Reporting hazards, WH&S Officers and Duty of care, to name a few.

The course, CPCCOHS1001A 'Work safely in the construction industry', is a nationally recognised OHS induction to the construction industry. It is a competency-based course and includes assessments. Once you have successfully completed the course you will receive a laminated white card with a serial number, your signature and the date of the course. You will also be issued with a certificate of completion, both of which act as proof of OHS induction completion. The course can be completed online or face-to-face. The course takes six hours to complete face-to-face and between two and four hours approximately to complete online. Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) are able to provide the course, online or face-to-face, once given approval from relevant state and territory governing bodies. Once an RTO has successfully completed rigorous auditing and accreditation processes, by adhering to strict quality training guidelines, they are able to provide the necessary training and assessment as required.

About the White Card: As the white card is part of a new initiative, which aims to homogenise occupational health and safety nation-wide for the construction industry, it is accepted in all states and territories by regulatory authorities as evidence that induction training was completed.

The old system saw blue cards, red cards and green cards depending on which state or territory issued it. Blue cards are still recognised by regulatory bodies across all states and territories as proof of induction completion, as are red cards with the exception of Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. South Australia is currently the only state that still recognises green cards.

Blue cards are still valid nation-wide, but are no longer issued. Meaning if it was to expire or was lost, you would need to be issued with a white card. In the instance that a blue card is lost, as the blue card is no longer issued it is recommended that you complete the white card course and upgrade to a national white card.


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James Knight writes on behalf of various businesses to help consumers find valuable information about products and services. Click here for further information about the white card and for further information on the whitecard online construction course