This unit describes a participant’s skills and knowledge required to conduct surface miner operations in Coal Mining (Open Cut).

This unit is appropriate for those working in operational roles.

Licensing, legislative, regulatory and certification requirements that apply to this unit can vary between states, territories, and Industry sectors. Relevant information must be sourced prior to application of the unit.

Evidence is required to be collected that demonstrates a candidate’s competency in this unit. Evidence must be relevant to the roles within this sector’s work operations and satisfy all of the requirements of the performance criteria of this unit and include evidence that the candidate:

locates and applies applicable legislation, documentation, policies and procedures for conducting surface miner operations

implements the requirements, procedures and techniques for the safe, effective and efficient completion of surface miner operations including:

applying hand-eye coordination

interpreting and applying geological and survey data

works with others to undertake and complete the surface miner operations in a way that meets all of the required outcomes by:

communicating clearly with others to receive and clarify work instructions and coordinating work activity

demonstrates completion of conducting surface miner operations that safely, effectively and efficiently meets all of the required outcomes on more than one (1) occasion including:

conducting pre-start checks, start-up, park, shutdown and secure equipment procedures

conducting, controlling and monitoring mining procedures, milling, loading and manoeuvring

selecting the required loading method and positioning of haulage units for mining coal and roadworks

driving, operating and relocating the surface miner

maintaining written maintenance and equipment records

The candidate must demonstrate knowledge of conducting surface miner operations through:

accessing, interpreting and applying the organization and site requirements for:

applying diagnostic techniques

identifying environmental constraints in surface miner operations

disposing of environmentally sensitive fluids and materials

applying basic geological and survey data

identifying hazards and following response procedures

identifying surface miner characteristics, technical capabilities and limitations including:

identifying loading methods and haulage units

identifying operational procedures required for mining coal, and roadworks

An assessor of this unit must satisfy the requirements of the NVR/AQTF or their successors; and Industry regulations for certification and licensing; and,

this unit must be assessed in the context of this sector’s work environment; and,

this unit must be assessed in compliance with relevant legislation/regulation and using policies, procedures, processes and operational manuals directly related to the industry sector for which it is being assessed; and,

assessment may be conducted in conjunction with the assessment of other Units of Competency; and,

assessment must confirm consistent performance can be applied in a range of relevant workplace circumstances; and,

assessors must demonstrate the performance evidence, and knowledge evidence as outlined in this Unit of Competency, and through the minimum years of current* work experience specified below in an Industry sector relevant to the outcomes of the unit; or,

where the assessor does not meet experience requirements a co-assessment or partnership arrangement must exist between the qualified assessor and an Industry subject matter expert. The Industry subject matter expert should hold the unit being assessed (or an equivalent unit) and/or demonstrate equivalence of skills and knowledge at the unit level. An Industry technical expert must also demonstrate skills and knowledge from the minimum years of current work experience specified below in the Industry sector, including time spent in roles related to the unit being assessed; and,

assessor and Industry subject matter expert requirements differ depending on the Australian Qualifications Framework Level (AQF) of the qualification being assessed and/or Industry Sector as follows:

*Assessors can demonstrate current work experience through employment within Industry in a role relevant to the outcomes of the Unit; or, for external assessors this can be demonstrated through exposure to Industry by conducting frequent site assessments across various locations.

**Where a unit is being delivered outside of a Qualification the first numeric character in the Unit code should be considered to indicate the AQF level

Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit. Further information is available in the Resources and Infrastructure Industry Training Package Companion Volume.

Coal mining (Open Cut)