One of the more important presentations at the IPWEA Fleet Conference earlier this year was that of Șal Petroccitto, CEO of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. He talked about the work the authority has been doing with fleets on chain of responsibility and safety management systems.
His key message was to urge Fleet Managers to understand national chain of responsibility laws, or CoR.
“If you’re not aware of the obligations under the heavy vehicle national law around CoR, I really do encourage you guys to get your head around it,” said Petroccitto.
Chain of Responsibility laws, or CoR, were introduced in 2018 and mean that every party involved in the operation of a vehicle over 4.5 tonnes on the public network may be held liable for safety breaches.
“If you own or operate a fleet you have an obligation to ensure that you’re compliant and more importantly that your drivers get home safely.”
He pointed out that 2022 was one of the worst years for heavy vehicle fatalities with some 180 deaths. 2023 is also shaping up to be a shocking year with the bus crash in the Hunter Valley of NSW killing 10 people earlier this month.
While in most cases involving a collision with another vehicle, a light vehicle is found at fault, it’s not always the case and some heavy vehicle drivers just shouldn’t be on the road in charge of such a lethal vehicle.
“The majority of our industry want to do the right thing,” said Petroccitto, adding, “Others we encourage to find a different career.”
The culture of the industry needs to be changed, said Petroccitto.
NHVR has a team of some 40 prosecutors as well as a team of investigators, indicating the authoriity takes CoR seriously, however, “heavy fining may not help,” said Petroccitto.
Rather, he said to the audience of Fleet Managers, many from local authorities,“If the people above you understand their obligations, if the people below you understand what they need to do, and you guys understand in effect what’s required under the primary duties aspect of the law, we can show that all of our staff will get home.”
Petroccitto paid tribute to an earlier presenter — Chris Dhu of Essential Energy, saying CoR had evidently guided how the infrastructure group managed its fleet. Dhu, group head of assets, engineering, risk and compliance, is also a director of the Australasian Fleet Management Association.
He urged Fleet Managers to use the vast resources of the NHVR to ensure they are also doing everything they can to invest in their obligations under CoR. He said NHVR officers can come and brief organisations on what CoR entails. In addition, there’s mountains of information on the NHVR website.
“It’s an area you need to focus on,” said Petroccitto. “Fundamentally, it’s about making sure that anyone who works in this industry gets home safe.”
