I am involved with two steam railway operations in Australia. To "attend" a
boiler over here you must hold a boiler certificate, which is a national
competency based certification. I do not have a copy of the core competencies
for the various levels of boiler ticket and steam tickets (we have boilers
basic, intermediate (superheaters) and advanced (dual fired); and
reciprocating steam engine driver tickets.

The intermediate boiler competencies certainly include gauge glass tests,
boiler operation, injector operation, feedwater pumps, feedwater heaters,
steam quality, fire triangle, confined spaces etc. and I recall much was made
of low water situations (ie what fusible plugs are, what they do and how, what
to do in such a situation). I would like to add that the "low water test"
described by a previous correspondent is frowned upon in Aus as in some
boilers the waterway passage can be below the crownsheet.

The tickets are obtained through the Tertiary and Further Education (TAFE)
institutions, which also handle trade certificates and so forth in our
education system. You might be able to obtain info on these by contacting one
of our TAFE colleges (try googling them)

The national competencies do not excuse the employer from ensuring
competencies with the plant itself (that is, I hold an Intermediate Boiler
Ticket, but I cannot just go to any railway and oeprate their locomotive
boilers - they must induct me and train me in their equipment and practises).

The railway sector is a bit more complex than other industries as we have an
additional national standard and state legislation which covers our operation,
including training. This standard is AS 4292, and the relevant state
legislation is the "Rail Safety Act" in each state.