What Training and Competency Records Should a Factory Keep?

What counts as a training or competency record?

A training record is any document that shows a worker received the information, instruction or training they needed to do a task safely — and, where relevant, that they were assessed as competent. Under Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), employers have a specific duty to provide employees with information, instruction, training or supervision needed to work safely, and a separate duty to keep records relevant to their employees' health and safety (WorkSafe Victoria). For a manufacturer, training records aren't paperwork for its own sake — they're your evidence that you met that duty.

What training records should a factory actually keep?

At minimum, a Victorian manufacturing site should be able to produce:

1. Induction records — signed and dated evidence that every new starter, casual, and contractor completed a site induction before starting work.
2. Task-specific training sign-offs — records showing who was trained on which machine, process or chemical, and when.
3. Licence and ticket registers — copies and expiry dates for any High Risk Work Licence held by your workers, such as forklift licences.
4. Refresher and toolbox talk records — dates, topics and attendee names for ongoing safety briefings.
5. Health and safety representative (HSR) training records — see below.
6. Contractor competency evidence — proof that contractors and their workers hold the licences or training your site requires before they start work.

How long should you keep training records?

WorkSafe Victoria doesn't publish one single retention period that covers every record type — some registers have their own specific requirements under the OHS Regulations 2017. As a practical rule, keep training and induction records for the duration of a worker's employment plus several years afterwards, since manual handling, noise and chemical exposure claims can surface long after the work was done. If you're unsure what applies to a specific record type, that's a reasonable question to raise during a site assessment.

What's different about HSR training?

If your workforce has elected a health and safety representative (HSR), the OHS Act gives them a specific training entitlement under section 67: a WorkSafe-approved five-day initial course, delivered on paid time and at the employer's cost, plus an approved refresher course every year they hold the role (WorkSafe Victoria). Keep a record of when each HSR completed initial and refresher training — it's one of the first things reviewed if a consultation dispute or WorkSafe matter arises.

What about licensed or ticketed work?

Some tasks can't legally be performed without a High Risk Work Licence issued by WorkSafe Victoria — forklift operation is the one most factories run into, requiring a Class LF or LO licence after training with a registered training organisation and a national assessment (WorkSafe Victoria). These licences are valid for five years, so a simple register with each worker's licence class and expiry date prevents someone quietly operating on a lapsed ticket.

What does a simple training register look like?

You don't need software to start. A single spreadsheet with one row per worker and columns for induction date, task-specific training completed, licence numbers and expiry dates, and refresher due-dates will cover most small sites — the discipline of keeping it updated matters more than the tool. If your site is growing past a handful of machines and shifts, a live system that flags expiring tickets automatically starts to earn its keep.

Getting your records in order is exactly the kind of gap a site assessment tends to surface early — if you'd like a second set of eyes on what you're currently keeping, you can book a site assessment with a safety practitioner.

FAQ

Do I need to keep training records for casual and labour-hire workers? Yes. The OHS Act's duty to provide information, instruction and training applies to everyone working at your site, and WorkSafe recommends host employers formally record induction attendance for labour hire workers, including the date and content covered.

Is a signature on an induction sheet enough proof of training? It's a reasonable starting point for basic induction, but for higher-risk tasks such as machine operation you should also be able to show what was covered and, ideally, some form of competency check — not just attendance.

What happens if I can't produce training records during a WorkSafe visit? Missing records don't automatically mean a breach occurred, but they make it far harder to demonstrate you met your training duty, and can prompt closer scrutiny of the rest of your site. Keeping records current is one of the cheapest ways to reduce that risk.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 10 August 2026.