Certified Utility Arborist
Course Description
A Certified Utility Arborist is a formal apprenticeship and upon completion provides the individual with a Certificate of Qualifications and a Certificate of Apprenticeship as provided by the Industry Training Authority [ITA].
A Certified Utility Arborist is a person who undertakes any work required to prune or clear vegetation in proximity [defined as a distance of three meters or less from a primary conductor with a voltage of 750 volts or higher] to energized electrical equipment, structures and conductors or who in the course of utility line clearing operations, prunes, falls or removes trees which could come into contact with energized power lines.
The program is structured to provide both in - school and work - based training with two correspondence courses also being required.
To be successful an apprentice must complete a total of 2387 hrs of on the job related work with not less than 1200 hours of these hours working in close proximity to high voltage conductors.
As an apprentice the person will attend two Levels of training with Level 1 being four weeks and Level 2 being two weeks. During and at the conclusion of each Level an apprentice will be required to challenge both written and competency based outcomes.