The two supervision terms on a WA technician licence
Western Australia’s regulations define two ways to work under a licensed technician: personal supervision, with the supervisor present, and under direction, on their instructions. The endorsements that follow the training are on the front of the card.
Each state writes supervision in words, not in metres.
Source: Victorian Department of Health, operator guidelines; trainee licences; NSW EPA, training permits; SA Health, industry licensing; SA Health, engaging a licensed business; SA.GOV.AU, pest control licence; WA Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; Queensland Health, sensitive places; NRE Tasmania, pest management licences; Victorian licence applications.
a licensed technician
BESIDE
WAin the presence of … close and continuous
VICwithin direct sight and hearing … at all times
VICat least four applications per pest, for example ants, before indirect supervision
WITHIN REACH
VICindirect sight or hearing … two-way radio
WAregular and frequent supervision
NSWa more indirect degree of supervision
QLDphone, two-way radio (sensitive places) for a licensed technician, not a trainee
VIC12 months, three times at most
NSWup to 84 days before enrolling
SAsome limited technicians: within sight and/or sound, telephone included
the full licence
trainee
fully qualified
Victorian Department of Health
Each state writes supervision in words, not in metres.
Source: Victorian Department of Health, operator guidelines; trainee licences; NSW EPA, training permits; SA Health, industry licensing; SA Health, engaging a licensed business; SA.GOV.AU, pest control licence; WA Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; Queensland Health, sensitive places; NRE Tasmania, pest management licences; Victorian licence applications.
Two definitions, one regulation
Western Australia puts both terms in the same place, the definitions at the start of the Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011.
Personal supervision means “in the presence of, and under the close and continuous supervision of, a licensed technician who is authorised to undertake the treatment”.
Under direction means “on the instructions of, and under the regular and frequent supervision of, a licensed technician who is authorised to undertake the treatment”.
Both definitions carry the same condition of their own.
The technician in charge must hold a licence, and be authorised to undertake the treatment being done, so the words describe an authorised pair, never any two workers.
The difference lands at the door.
Personal supervision puts the supervisor in the room while the pesticide is applied.
Under direction lets the work proceed on instructions, with the supervisor’s checks regular and frequent rather than continuous.
Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011.
What a technician’s licence authorises
The regulation’s r 34 sets out what the licence lets its holder do, and it is the reason the card’s details matter:
(1) A technician’s licence authorises the licensee to undertake pest management treatments:
- (a) of a kind endorsed on the licence; and
- (b) using (i) any registered pesticide that is not a restricted-use pesticide; or (ii) any restricted-use pesticide that is specified in the licence.
Read plainly, the licence does not authorise pest work in general. It authorises the kinds of treatment endorsed on it, and the pesticides the licence names, which is why the words “of a kind endorsed” carry the whole card.
The training sits behind the licence: to work in the pest management industry a person must hold a pest management technician licence that is current, and complete the department-approved training.
Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; WA Department of Health, pest industry licensing.
The endorsement, and the training that earns it
Endorsements are not bought with the licence. Treating a certain type of pest takes a specialised training course.
Once that training is finished, the result is printed on the card. A Western Australian licence carries an endorsement on the card’s front, naming the pesticide treatments its holder is qualified to do.
The regulation sets the same bar from the other side.
Where an application is for a technician’s licence to be endorsed, the Chief Health Officer must be satisfied that the applicant has reached 18 years of age.
The applicant must also be adequately qualified to undertake pest management treatments of the kinds to be endorsed on the licence.
The steps start with a licence of their own. The Department of Health’s guide says new applicants who use a pesticide on the way to their technician qualification need a provisional technician (PT) licence.
Its holder must work for a registered pest management business and cannot work unsupervised.
Below 18, the guide requires direct and personal supervision, shoulder-to-shoulder or within sight and sound.
From 18, the same supervision runs for up to 30 working days, after which the holder may apply treatments under a licensed technician’s direction.
A PT licence covers its trainee for a probationary period of 12 months.
It is not a licence for every kind of work on its own. These qualifications and endorsements need a PT licence, the Department of Health says:
- commercial domestic pests other than termites and timber pests
- termite treatment on power poles
- control of feral pigeons
- fumigation
- commercial domestic pests that include termites and timber pests, but not power poles
The full licence has its own criteria. A person can apply for a pest management technician licence once they satisfy all of the department’s criteria.
One of them is the qualification: an applicant must have completed an approved qualification, or an approved competency skill set, listed in the guide’s Appendix 1.
Source: HealthyWA, how to choose a pest management business; WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011; WA Department of Health, guide to a technician’s licence.
The card the regulation describes
On granting a licence, the Chief Health Officer must issue the person a licence card.
The licence card must also set out the following information:
- the endorsements made under regulation 40
- the restricted-use pesticides, if any, that the licensee is authorised to use
And it keeps the card in play after the training is done.
A licensee must produce the licence for inspection on an authorised officer’s request as soon as is practicable, and in any event within 24 hours of the request.
Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011.
The two terms, against each other
The regulation’s words in one column, what they ask in the other.
| Term | The regulation’s words | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Personal supervision | “in the presence of, and under the close and continuous supervision of, a licensed technician” | The supervisor is present for the treatment, watching it closely throughout. |
| Under direction | “on the instructions of, and under the regular and frequent supervision of, a licensed technician” | The work runs on the supervisor’s instructions, checked regularly but not watched throughout. |
| The licence itself | “of a kind endorsed on the licence”, using registered pesticides, and restricted-use pesticides “specified in the licence” | The card names both the kinds of treatment and the restricted-use pesticides it covers. |
Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011.
One worked case: a fumigation assistant
Regulation 10 shows where personal supervision bites in practice. A person who is not licensed is exempt from needing one while assisting a fumigation, but only if every condition in r 10(3) is met:
(3) A person is exempt under this subregulation if:
- (a) the pest management treatment being undertaken by the person is a fumigation; and
- (b) the person: (i) is assisting a licensed technician who is authorised to undertake the fumigation; and (ii) undertakes the fumigation under personal supervision; and
- (c) the person is adequately trained in first aid as defined in regulation 57.
Every limb has to hold. The assistant works at a fumigation, assists a technician authorised for it, does the work under personal supervision, and is first-aid trained: four conditions, one exemption.
Source: WA legislation, Health (Pesticides) Regulations 2011.
Who may treat your home in Western Australia is decided by the WA Department of Health.