EFNARC Certificate and Site VOC

A client asking whether a nozzleman is qualified is usually asking about 2 documents, and will not accept one without the other. A certification says the person has shown the knowledge and skill of a nozzleman in a process, against an external scheme. A verification of competency, a VOC, says that this person, on this machine, on this site, can operate it correctly and safely.

The Certificate

EFNARC certifies Hand Spraying and Robotic Spraying as separate categories. The certificate follows theory, the EFNARC examination, 40 verified days and a practical assessment with an examiner present, and it is issued by EFNARC. It is the only globally recognised certification scheme that covers both Hand Spraying and Robotic Spraying, and it is the one all Australian tunnelling and mining clients ask for. Our director and founder, Scott Graham, is currently the only EFNARC Examiner in Australia certified for both schemes, and holds the EFNARC nozzle operator certificates for both.

There is no other recognised robotic or hand spraying nozzle operator certification in Australia, and the EFNARC hand spraying certificate is the only hand spraying nozzle operator certification available here. The only other unit is the national unit of competency RIIUND310E, Apply shotcrete underground, and its content draws on the EFNARC material. Mines and tunnels are both now specifying EFNARC certification.

The VOC

A VOC has 3 parts: a named person, a named piece of plant or task, and an assessment by somebody competent to assess it against a defined list of things the person has to demonstrate. It records what they did as well as what they know.

A certified nozzleman put on an unfamiliar rig needs a VOC on that rig. An operator with 10 years on one machine needs a VOC when the site changes machines. A pump operator or a line hand can hold a VOC without any nozzleman certification. A VOC is plant specific and it is not permanent. It is redone when the plant changes, including a different model of the same make, when the task changes from vertical to overhead or from one process to another, after an incident, after a long absence, at the review interval, and whenever the person's competence is in question.

What a Shotcrete VOC Assesses

For a robotic nozzleman, the whole cycle. The pre-start done properly and the sheet completed. Start-up with the interlocks and the gauge checks. Tramming and parking with the boom on its stops. Setting up at the face, including the ground check and the position chosen. The start-up sequence at the nozzle: air, accelerator, priming, first material. Boom operation, including folding and unfolding correctly. Spraying: distance, angle, pattern, sequence, thickness. Recognising and responding to a rising pressure, a blockage or material behaving wrongly. Shutdown in the right order, cleaning down, where the washout goes, and where the emergency stops are.

The whole cycle is assessed, from pre-start to washout

For a hand spray nozzleman, the same without the carrier and the boom, plus the hand signals, working with the pump operator, and what the nozzleman asks for and reports. For a pump operator, the pump, the delivery line, the gauge, the blockage procedure and the signals.

The record carries the person's name and signature, the plant by make, model and identification number, the task stated specifically, the date, what was assessed item by item and what was demonstrated, the assessor and what makes them competent, the outcome, any limitation written on it, and the review date. A limitation that is not written down cannot be relied on. We carry out VOCs for hand spray, robotic spray and the plant a crew operates, and a requalification VOC for already certified EFNARC operators.

Before Mobilising

A client usually asks for the site induction record, the certification in date for the process and orientation being worked, the VOC for the specific plant, any high risk work licence for the plant, the training record showing supervised experience, and medical and fit test records where the site requires them. A crew without complete and current records spends the first days of a job in an office instead of on the work.

We run EFNARC nozzle operator courses for Robotic and Hand Spraying, on your site or at other locations by arrangement. The course pages have the modules and the enquiry form.