Training matrix and skills matrix for Queensland businesses

A training matrix (or skills matrix) is a grid of your workers against the skills, tickets and training their jobs need, with dates, so gaps and expiries are easy to see. Queensland’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 does not use the term, but it does require suitable training and licences.

This guide is for owners and supervisors of small Queensland businesses. It covers what to track, an example, how to build one, and what the law says about training and licences.

Training matrix, skills matrix and training register: what is the difference?

These are workplace tools, not legal terms. We checked the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) and neither uses the phrases “training matrix”, “skills matrix” or “training register”. Here is a plain way to separate them:

• Skills matrix: a grid of people against tasks or skills, showing who can do what and at what level (for example, “can work alone”, “can train others”). It shows where only one person can do a job.
• Training matrix: the same grid, focused on training, licences and tickets, with completion and expiry dates. It shows who needs a refresher or renewal and when. Many small businesses combine the two.
• Training register: a dated record of training that was actually given: who attended, what was covered, who delivered it, and any signature. The matrix is the overview; the register is the evidence behind it.

We offer both as free Word documents (.docx) that you adapt to your business: the free Employee Skills Matrix and the free Employee Training Register. You fill them in and keep them up to date yourself; they do not track expiry dates for you.

What to put in a training matrix

Keep it to what you will actually maintain. A useful matrix for a small crew usually has:

• Name and role of each worker (including labour-hire workers you direct, if you decide to track them).
• Induction date for your business and for any site-specific induction.
• Licences and tickets with the licence class or type and the expiry date, such as a high risk work licence or a general construction induction card.
• Task sign-off for the plant, chemicals or processes the person uses, and who signed them off.
• First aid and CPR for the people you have nominated as first aiders, with the date completed.
• Refresher due date, so a quick scan shows what is coming up.

Example matrix (made-up)

A made-up example for a small Queensland civil and landscaping business. The names, dates and tasks are invented.

Even this small grid shows what to act on: only Sam holds the forklift licence, and it expires soon.

How to set one up in five steps

1. List the tasks that carry real risk. Start from your risk assessments and SWMS: plant, chemicals, work at height, manual handling, driving and so on.
2. List your people and roles. Include apprentices, casuals and anyone you direct who works on your sites.
3. Record what each person holds today. Ask to see licences and cards, and write down the type and expiry date. Do not rely on memory.
4. Mark the gaps. Where someone does a task without the training or licence it needs, fix that first, then decide who needs training, who stays supervised until signed off, and where you rely on one person too heavily.
5. Give it an owner and a review date. One named person updates it, with a set review day. Keep signed training records in the register, with the matrix as the summary.

How to keep it current

These are practice suggestions, not legal requirements:

• Update it the same day something changes: a new starter, a course, a renewed licence, a new machine.
• Check the “next due” column monthly and book renewals well before expiry.
• Review your training when work processes, plant or control measures change. The approved Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 says to review a training program regularly, and suggests records of induction and training that include the date, the topics, and the name and signature of the trainer and each worker.
• Link it to your induction of new starters so training turns into dated records.

What the Queensland law says about training and licences

Information, training and instruction

Section 19(3)(f) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) says a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety arising from the work. Section 39 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) adds that the information, training and instruction provided to a worker must be suitable and adequate having regard to:

• the nature of the work the worker carries out;
• the nature of the risks associated with the work at the time the training is provided; and
• the control measures implemented.

It must also, so far as is reasonably practicable, be provided in a way that is readily understandable by the person receiving it. Under section 28 of the Act, workers must also, so far as they are reasonably able, comply with any reasonable instruction given by the PCBU to allow the PCBU to comply with the Act.

High risk work licences

Section 81 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) says a person must not carry out a class of high risk work unless they hold a high risk work licence for that class, subject to the exceptions in section 82. Section 82(1) allows unlicensed work in the course of training towards certification, under a licensed person’s supervision, and section 84 requires the PCBU to ensure that supervisor provides direct supervision, with a limited exception in section 84(2).

Section 85 is where the high risk work licensing provisions we read require a record. A PCBU must not direct or allow a worker to carry out high risk work that needs a licence unless the PCBU sees written evidence from the worker that they hold the licence (section 85(1)). Similar evidence is needed for workers relying on the section 82 training exceptions (section 85(2)) and for their supervisors (section 85(3)). The PCBU must keep a record of that written evidence for at least one year after the high risk work is carried out, or after the last time the worker did the supervision (section 85(4)). Your matrix does not replace seeing the licence itself.

A high risk work licence expires five years after the day it is granted unless cancelled earlier (section 92). An application to renew must be made before the licence expires (section 101(4)), and if you apply in time the licence continues in force until the decision is notified (section 102). If a licence has expired, section 103 allows an application for renewal within 12 months after expiry, and its note says that the person cannot do the work covered by the licence until it is renewed. That is why an expiry column earns its place. See our high risk work licence guide.

General construction induction

For construction work, sections 316 and 317 of the Regulation require a PCBU to ensure a worker has completed general construction induction training before directing or allowing them to carry out construction work, and to ensure the worker holds a general construction induction training card (or an interim certification issued within the preceding 60 days). If the worker completed the training more than two years earlier, they must have carried out construction work in the preceding two years. See our high risk construction work guide for related duties.

First aid

Section 42(2) of the Regulation says the PCBU must ensure an adequate number of workers are trained to administer first aid at the workplace, or that workers have access to an adequate number of other persons who have been trained. The approved First aid in the workplace Code of Practice 2021 recommends that refresher training in CPR be carried out annually and that first aid qualifications be renewed every three years.

Is keeping a matrix or register compulsory?

The provisions covered here require suitable training, licences for high risk work, and (in section 85) a record of licence evidence, but none requires a training matrix or register as such. Some areas have specific record duties: section 461 of the Regulation says a licensed asbestos removalist must keep a record of the training undertaken by workers carrying out licensed asbestos removal work.

Outside those duties, keeping training records is good practice that the approved codes we checked encourage. The How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021 says it is useful to keep relevant training records as part of recording how you manage risks, and the Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 says records of training should be kept, documenting who was trained, when and on what. An approved code of practice is practical guidance rather than law in itself, but section 26A of the Act requires a PCBU to comply with an approved code or manage risks in a way that provides an equivalent or higher standard of health and safety, and a court can rely on the code when deciding what is reasonably practicable (section 275).

Common mistakes

• Building a big matrix nobody updates. A smaller, current one is more useful.
• Recording that a course was done but not whether the person can do the task. Sign-off on the job matters as much as the certificate.

Templates and related guides

If you want a starting point, use the free Employee Skills Matrix to map skills and the free Employee Training Register to record sessions. Both are Word documents to adapt to your own business. To set out how your business gives information and training, the Consultation, Communication & Training Policy Template can help.

Related guides: new employees in the workplace, high risk work licences in Queensland, high risk construction work and first aid requirements.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law or talk to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for your situation.

Templates for this job

Ready-to-edit Word and Excel templates for Queensland workplaces.

• Free download Employee Skills Matrix FreeView →
• Template Consultation, Communication and Training Policy $9.99View →
• Template Risk Assessment for Manual Tasks $14.99View →

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