What next??????????????

Sounds like they have been caught up in some new legislation which has been put into place to further promote the "nanny state". Apparently businesses and people who engage in repairs or servicing of vehicles now need to have a licence. I am sure it will be of great benefit to all of us. I do love being a skeptic and our governments seem to know it as they keep finding bigger and better ways of validating my skepticism.
Happy travelling,
Mike.

Could have had a smart arse of an inspector. There again these so called safety boys or what ever they call them have gone overboard!! Theory boys and nothing else.

Hi Dunworkin,
Looks like WA is catching up with NSW when it comes to the Nanny State.
I went to have the High preasure power steering hose replaced, the Hydraulic specialist told me I would have to pull the old one out and fit the new one, because their not a licensed work shop. Not that I had a problem with doing the work my self.
As a Licensed carpenter, I cant take the roof sheets off to install a Flue or a sky light because I'm not a licensed roof plumber. once the sheeting is removed I can install the Flu or sky light. Here you have an other one, As a Carpenter, I can only pour concrete blob/pad & strip footings, I can even setup for and erect form work for suspended slabs, but I not allowed to pour Slabs, or foot paths. Yet a licensed Landscaper can pour Slabs no matter how big.

You watch, soon when you go to get your tyres repaired/replaced, there will be a bloke that takes the wheel off the car, gives it another bloke that fixes the puncher, replaces the tube, balances it and gives it back the the first bloke to put it back on the car.
All because one bloke is not a licensed mechanic.

The world is getting sillier and sillier. :(

Dunworkin

You know the scary part,.......... the inspector did not know how dumb he sounded making the statement. Otherwise he would have just left it alone.

regards

Morning all
same thing happen to me yesterday in Bunbury......i then said when will you get a fork lift to lift it in.....it could be to heavy for you to lift,took the battery home and put it in myself,then went back and got them to check it and to see if all was ok.
All this crap is designed to keep some lazy fat goverment fool employed,the bum should resign and join "EO" and go for a holiday in this great country.

Cheers for now...William.H...Bunbury...WA.

We went past some roadworks the other day and while we were passing the guy with the stop/go lollystick, we noticed on his vehicle 'Traffic Technologist'.

My wife asked me ' how many hours of study to achieve that title'?

I guess it was another course they have to do. I wonder if it included a reading course to make sure he had the right wording facing the right way.

On another note, when I was doing 4WD tours, I didn't have to do a 4WD course to drive an OKA with 12 people, or 4WD 24 seat Hino, but I had to do a 2 day 4WD course if I had to drive a Toyota/Nissan with one or two people in.
The bigger vehicles were considered to be a bus, so a different category for the authorisation. And that didn't include a 4WD course.

Go figure that one. Talk about bureaucracy gone loopy.

Dave

Same with Bunnings (hardware) if you ask some thing in there electrical department they dont want to tell you anything bar whats written on the box as they might get in trouble, then they tell you everything must be done by a qualified sparky (fair enough) then it says on the back of the packet how to wire it up anyway. Place is going nuts, now thay want to hold the school teachers responsible for the school selling drinks like red bull etc to the kids !!! wtf, they will buy from local servo and take it to school anyway, maybe they should think about leaving the teachers to do what they are meant to do and that is teach the kids not be security guards.............Regards Steve M

NNNNooooo! Don't tell him that.... then he will travelling the road telling all the grey nomads they are breaking all the rules by putting their own awning up and down by standing on a stool instead of having a government cetrified, annnually inspected, tagged and labelled by a qualified inspector, AUS Standards approved, step ladder manufactured in China... LOL... (:

Its all about protecting "yourself" from potential litigation!

When things go wrong the first thing people think of is how much can I get out of this - who can I blame. Unfortuntely its gone right over the top so that you can hardly move these days.

The law wouldn't have been passed by the MP that was hiking up the mountain the other day by any chance ???? (sorry couldn't help myself)

next we will have to be licenced to put petrol in our cars. Surely there is mor risk in that then charging a battery!
GFC=less revenue via taxes so make up new taxes...thats all it is

As ridiculous as the situation is, it would most likely have been brought in because there has been accidents/incidents caused by incompedant installers then unfortunately the governing body has to come up with a set of rules to stop it happening again. Downside is the experienced guy who's never had a problem gets lumped with regulation/training/licencing he doesn't want or need.
You may think that is over the top doing an 8 hour course for a relatively simple job but you should see what paper work & training we have to do in the power industry. My record is 25 forms to fill out for a 2 hour job with 4 men onsite. Often they finish the jobs before I can write it all out. Lucky I get paid per hour.
Cheers Craig............

WA has just introduced a licence system for mechanics from 1July I believe and guess it has something to do with that. As a retired mechanic I personally agree with licensing and feel it will be good for the industry. However sounds like as usual they have gone to the extreme. Even as a qualified mechanic I can no longer charge for any work unless I obtain a licence.

Did the retailer give any indication of what the regulation was?

Is there a regulation that specifically deals with this? One thing I do know is that Australian Governments are very good at putting regulations on line. It may be my lack of Google skills, but I couldn’t find anything relating to this

The best thing that I could come up with was dangerous goods (lead, acid, plastics etc) and the management and disposal thereof.

One would like to think that people involved in the management of this should have an indication of what to do and it does help prosecution of any major breaches of these laws should they occur.

Of course, he may just be using this as an excuse so he doesn’t have to worry about disposing of the batteries properly, covering his posterior if he manages to fritz a couple of thousand dollars of ECU or increasing his insurance premiums by offering this service.

It’s easy for him to blame the government (if that is the reason)

He was unwilling to pay $70 (tax deductable) and 8 hours to provide a proper service for his customers

I remember a few years back when a car rally course was being prepared in SW WA state forests. A Conservation and Land Management guy was insisting that anyone who used a chainsaw to clear the track in their forest had to have the required certificate to operate a chainsaw and to wear all the prescribed protective overalls, boots, etc. And he was there following them to make sure the rules were adhered to!
How many members on this forum have a chainsaw operator's certificate when they find a track blocked by fallen trees?

Also, on another story, tho it's been years since I have ridden a motor bike, I was amazed when, leaving work, I found I had a flat tyre on the front of my bike. Right next door was a tyre place, so, easy, I thought, take it in there and get it fixed on the spot. No chance, mate, I was told - it must be done by a bike mechanic. Something to do with brakes, etc. Ok, I said, I'll take the wheel off myself and re-fit it after you've fixed it. Nope! not allowed. So I got them to pump up the tyre, (they were allowed to do that) and it just got me home. Then I took the wheel off and drove down to a bke place, where they fixed it at mechanic's rates, then I took it home and re-fitted it. Go figure!
Gerry

A "traffic technologist" probably has to do a course so that they know how to properly deal with rude , arrogant , impatient motorists that abuse them for doing their job...on a lighter note...had to get a stop light switch replaced on the Falcon wagon at Horsham a few months ago , went to the Ford dealership with van in tow, bought the switch , then stated that I would have to find someone to fit it (I have had the trouble before and it is a bleep of a thing to fit)
"no trouble "said the guy behind the counter" I will fit it for you"...did it there and then....better than the last time it happened at Mildura , they did not want to know me...cheers

I for one hate govt getting their mits into anything - they will only stuff it up after all.

That said changing a battery ain't what it used to be these days, with some of these new cars.

Eg.

Some are computer operat3ed - disconnect the battery, without doing certain steps inthe owners manual and all manner ofthinsg happen.

A) the computer loses it's memory - and has to be "re flashed" by the company who made the car - usually aqbout $75 unless you have your own laptop connector and software.

B) The radio etc etc will need a special code to get it all to work again.

C) The inbuilt security system, could be triggered - switching everything off - and preventing it from being re started.

All of these things could be a weee problem in the back of bourke, when some id at the servo who hasn;t a clue swaps out an old for a new battery for you and doesn't know all the ins and outs!

You have to disconnect the battery - to be able to wled on your vehicle - but now days disconnecting the battery is a weeks work to do it right.

I am not in favor of the new licensing - have had one a them govt inspectors into my factory before today and in the end had to show him the door for his own safety - before I lost my quince and did him some physical bodily harm.

He visited twice - he got the message the second time and never came back.

He knew all about safety but nothing about wood machining...

It was all over removing the riving knife off an altendorf panel saw - we used the saw for housing out timber in furniture manufacturing meaning the timber had to pass over the blade, and thos old model saw didn;t have the riving knife attached to the height adjusting mechanism of the saw blade it was fixed in height - meaning it had to be physically unbolted and removed to carry out that one operation.

Trouble was we did that operation maybe 50 times a day, so the riving knife lived it;s life in a drawer - wasn;'t worth having it on for wha we used the machine for.

Same with out jointer (buzzer) which had a spring loaded leg of mutton safety guard sposed to keep your onkaparingas outta the blades.

Most of our work was rebating timber for joinery (door jambs and frames etc).

Can't rebate with the guard on so - it too lived in a drawer near the jointer.

This guy just wouldn;t let go ofit - he figired we should spend most of every day ebvvery week putting his safety guards on and off the machines...

We simply had worked out other operating procedures that kept our fingers attached to our hands - when using those machines for those tasks, 20 years with all my fingers working in saw milling and cabinets joinery etc couldn;t convince the guy that we knew what we were doing .

The REAL threat of actual physical violence against his person if he ever came back eventually convinced him - no more problemo.

Looks like it;s comming to that for battery changing.

How long before it's an offense to work on your own vehicle at home?

This world we live in is over governed - simple as that - we are already the "nanny state"

Time to get Govt OUT of our lives.

Pokin em in the nose when they put it where it ain't needed might be a good start!

Not that I'm an advocate of violence, - but people really are getting their buttons pushed and it will only be a question of time.

I can't help thinking of that guy in the USA who was hard done bye the council in his town - they harrassed him for years - until he made a list of each and every one who done him wrong - and what property / business they owned - then armor proofed his big bull dozer with steel and concrete and set about getting even.

With less than half the town left standing he did a pretty good job!

People will only get pushed so far.

There's an old saying 'bout that [quote]40,000 Frenchmen can't be wrong![/quote]

Reputedly spoken by Marie Antionette - just after she famously said:

[quote]"The key to success - is being able to keep your head - while those about you are losing theirs.[/quote]

(Spoken from the bottom of the steps leading to the guillotine! ;o)

Cheers!

I worked for a Ford dealer ship for 13Yrs & had to recover an ED Falcon that a cusomer fitted a new battery the wrong way around. Very expensive repair wrecked the ECU & Body electronic module. These sort of customers are out there. I also was the workshop manager (never have i been a qualifiied mechanic) I have had fully qualified mechanics recently that I would not let near my vehicle.

Couldn't believe my ears today when a mate told me that he went into the local Beaurepaire Tyre Service in Grafton after dropping off his Desert Dueler 31x10.5x15, 2 hours earlier to fix a puncher(staked the side wall, a couple of plugs would of done the trick:) ) only to be told that they no longer have some one qualified in the shop to fix it, They send all the puncher work up to Glen Innes(160km away) and it will be back Monday morning. Had he of come in yesterday it would be back tomorrow.
Are they serious, a regional country town of 18000 and nobody can repair a staked Tyre?
Shaking head :O

Hi All,
"Certificates for everything" is now a thriving business.
Get yourself a "Trainer's Certificate" and you can train anybody to do anything and issue a "Certificate of Competency" for it too.

A few years back, I was required to do a 'Defensive Driving' course before I could do a '4WD Driver Training' course as part of my employment. At that time I had been driving for 44years (42 legally), 40 years of 4WD experience including army service and only a small number of speeding fines in all that time.

Why is this so important?????????
Because without these so-calloed "Certificates" I was not permitted to drive my employers vehicle in the course of my work.

This was only 1 bloody week before I retired after 22 years with the one Govt department.

Crazy?? Yes but it was a requirement of the job so it had to be done.

As an aside I had more offroad and 4wd experience that the so-called instructor, I'd been driving for 20 years before he was even born (Nice bloke but bloody wet behind the ears.)

Was a bit of a laugh at the time, 2 weeks off to drive around in cars and Landcruisers (bugger)



Disco.

Who trains the trainers?

I've had Cert4 in Work Place Training and Assessment for years, used it once. Maybe a bloke should start doing something with it. We'll call them light duties. Yep, that should work.

Wow that was a good read, some very interesting replies/ followups there, thanks all for your contributions to the thread, I'm glad that I'm not the only one shaking my head, however in saying that there will always be a need for regulations to a certain extent and I understand that but surely in cases like my post common sense should prevail, 36years of experience I'm sure there wouldn't be too much more for him to know relating to changing batteries.

Cheers

Deanna

Our mechanic at work had to do a course on changing tyres and basic servicing (oil change) of the company vehicles! He has been in the industry fo 30 years.
Ian
by the way I am a mechanical fitter and am looking for the last day and I wonder what a 5 year apprenticeship was for and guess what the examinors do not have a trade!!??