PURPOSE

The purpose of this procedure is to outline the organisations responsibility under the ‘chain of responsibility’ requirements.

WHO ARE THE PARTIES IN THE CHAIN OF RESPONSIBILITY?

The people who are parties in the chain of responsibility in relation to a regulated heavy vehicle are the:

1. employer of the driver of the vehicle; and
2. prime contractor of the driver; and
3. operator of the vehicle; and
4. scheduler of goods or passengers for transport by the vehicle, and the scheduler of its driver; and
5. consignor of goods for transport by the vehicle; and
6. consignee of goods for transport by the vehicle; and
7. loading manager of goods for transport by the vehicle; and
8. loader of goods on to the vehicle; and
9. un-loader of goods from the vehicle.

Note: It is the performance of any these functions, whether exclusively or occasionally, that determines whether a person falls within any of these definitions, rather than their job title or contractual description. Also a person may be a party in the chain of responsibility in more than one capacity.

Example: A person may be an employer, operator and consignor at the same time in relation to a driver and be subject to duties in each of the capacities.

Note: Section 147 of the C & E Act also provides that a person may be liable for a breach in one or more capacities under the chain of responsibility.

The court may have regard to anything that it considers to be relevant when it is deciding whether things that the person did, or did not do, were reasonable steps, including the:

1. nature of the aspect or risk that the person was attempting to, or should have been attempting to, address; and
2. likelihood of a risk eventuating; and
3. degree of harm that would result if a risk did eventuate; and
4. circumstances (e.g. the risk category that the relevant offence belongs to); and
5. degree to which the person (either personally or through an agent or employee) had the ability to eliminate, prevent or reduce an aspect, or to eliminate a risk or to minimise the likelihood of a risk eventuating; and
6. experience, expertise and knowledge that the person, or the person’s agent or employee, had or ought reasonably have had; and
7. availability and suitability of ways to eliminate, prevent or reduce an aspect, or to eliminate a risk or to minimise the likelihood of a risk eventuating; and
8. cost of eliminating a risk or minimising the likelihood of a risk eventuating; and
9. body of fatigue knowledge.

PROCEDURE

The scheduler of transport activities must ensure that no journey planning or scheduling sets unreasonable work and time schedules sanctions or demands actions causing improper use of the vehicle that leads to an unsafe outcome.

The vehicle driver should not accept or take part in any unsafe practice such as overloading, improper fixing, improper loading/unloading, unsafe practices etc and should not drive the vehicle if they feel that safety is being compromised. In such instances the driver must immediately contact their direct supervisor.

The organization/person is required to take all ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure that a specified thing will not cause a particular outcome, without limiting the ways in which a person may take those steps, they are to be regarded as having taken those steps if they:

• identify and assesses what aspects of the specified thing might cause the particular outcome and the risks that those aspects might cause the particular outcome; and if there is a substantial risk that an aspect might cause the particular outcome, what they can reasonably do to eliminate that risk, or if it is not reasonably possible to eliminate that risk, to minimize that risk; and
• repeats that identification and assessment:

1. if anything occurs that may adversely affect, or that indicates that there may be a problem with, the specified thing; and
2. in any event, at least annually; and
3. does the things identified under paragraph (a) as being things that they can reasonably do; and
4. documents the actions that they have taken under paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), and retains that documentation for at least 3 years.

Evidence that the person had complied with a registered industry code of practice could be evidence that the person had taken reasonable steps.

Note: Industry codes of practice may be registered under section 179 (Registration of industry codes of practice) of the C & E Act or under a corresponding road law.

CERTAIN REQUESTS AND CONTRACTS PROHIBITED

A person must not ask, direct or require (directly or indirectly) a driver or a party in the chain of responsibility to do something that the person knows, or reasonably ought to know, would have the effect of causing the driver to:

1. drive while impaired by fatigue; or
2. drive while in breach of his or her work/rest hours option; or
3. drive in breach of another law to avoid driving while impaired by fatigue or while in breach of their work/rest hours option.