People ask us for "ICAM certification" every week. Employers put it in job ads, tenders ask for it, and investigators want it on their CV. Here is what it means in practice, and what you walk away with from ICAM for Lead Investigators.

What you get

Complete the two day ICAM for Lead Investigators course and you receive two things:

• A Certificate of Attendance from ICAM Australia. Issued to everyone who completes the course, face to face or live online. This is the "ICAM certification" that employers and tenders are asking for.
• A Statement of Attainment for BSBWHS515 Lead initial response to and investigate WHS incidents, a nationally recognised unit of competency. It's included in the public course price and earned by a self-paced assessment after the course.

The certificate says you have been trained in the ICAM method by the organisation that wrote the ICAM Quick Reference Guide. The unit sits in the national training system and shows up on a formal transcript. Most attendees collect both.

The ICAM Australia certificate

The two days are the training. When you attend the full course, ICAM Australia issues a Certificate of Attendance confirming you have completed the Lead Investigators program.

Employers across mining, construction, transport, utilities and government ask for this certificate when they appoint lead investigators. It doesn't expire. For people who trained some years ago and want to come back to the current method, there's a one day Refresher course.

The nationally recognised unit: BSBWHS515

BSBWHS515 Lead initial response to and investigate WHS incidents is a unit of competency in the national training system. The unit is not earned by attending; it's earned afterwards, through a self-paced assessment, and the Statement of Attainment is issued by Training Education and Management Services Pty Ltd, RTO 91852.

The sequence is:

• Attend the two day course. Receive the ICAM Australia certificate.
• Complete the self-paced assessment in your own time.
• On a satisfactory result, the RTO issues your Statement of Attainment for BSBWHS515.

There are no prerequisites for the course and no licensing requirement attached to the unit. You don't need previous ICAM experience to enrol.

The online, self-paced course

The eLearning version of ICAM for Lead Investigators covers the same course content at your own pace. It includes a certificate of completion and a three month subscription to the ICAM QRG app. BSBWHS515 is not included in the eLearning course. If you need the nationally recognised unit, book the public course or an in-house program.

A few things it isn't

• It isn't a licence. No Australian regulator requires a licence to lead an incident investigation.
• It isn't a registration that lapses. The certificate stands; the Refresher is there if you want it.
• It isn't accreditation of a company. Organisations adopt ICAM as their investigation method; the training is for the people who run the investigations.

Which one do you need?

If your employer or a tender asks for "ICAM trained" investigators, the ICAM Australia certificate is what they're after. If a position description or an internal competency framework names BSBWHS515, complete the assessment after the course. The unit is already in the price, so there's no reason not to do both.

Course dates, locations and the online option are on the ICAM for Lead Investigators page. For in-house programs, contact the team.

FAQs

Is ICAM a nationally recognised qualification?

ICAM is a method. The ICAM for Lead Investigators public course includes BSBWHS515, a nationally recognised unit of competency, earned by a self-paced assessment after the course and issued by RTO 91852.

Does the ICAM Australia certificate expire?

No. A Refresher course is available for people who want to return to the current version of the method.

Can I get BSBWHS515 through the online course?

No. The eLearning course includes a certificate of completion and a three month ICAM QRG app subscription. BSBWHS515 is only available with the public and in-house courses.