Courses
The new National Programs are:
| TLIF2092A Demonstrate COR |  |
| TLIF3093A Implement COR | |
| TLIF4094A Ensure COR | |
Chain of Responsibility (CoR) legislation extends the general liability for offences to road freight consignors, receivers, packers and loaders. Rather than pursue the ‘soft target’ on the roadside – truck drivers and operators – authorities can now investigate along the supply chain and up and down the corporate chain of command. The days of ‘all care and no responsibility’ are over.
CoR is similar to the legal concept of ‘duty of care’ that underpins Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) law. This approach has long been used by the courts to impose liability in negligence and damages claims.
CoR legislation is already a feature of laws covering mass and dimension limits, load restraint requirements, driving hours and dangerous goods laws. The laws have also been expanded toinclude fatigue, speeding and vehicle standards.
Penalties and sanctions range from formal warnings to court imposed fines and penalties relating to the commercial benefit derived from offences. Supervisory intervention orders and prohibition orders banning individuals from the industry can be applied to ‘persistent or systematic’ offenders.
Who should do the new National “Chain of Responsibility” courses on a yearly basis?
- Consigner
- Consignee
- Packer
- Loader
- Scheduler
- Driver
- Receiver
- Carrier
- Manufacturer
- Employee
- Employer
- Owner
- Board of Directors
- Senior officials
- Dispatch Officer
- Operator
- Person in charge or apparently in charge of a vehicle
- Agent
- Sub contactor
- Authorised officer
- Elected Councillors
- External Clients
- Receiver
- Forwarder
- Dispatcher
- Yard Foreman
- Safety Regulators
- Police / Enforcement Officials
- Public
- Sub Contractors
Anyone involved in the transport supply chain or uses road transport services for business. Parties in the ‘Chain of Responsibility’ (in addition to the driver) include:
- the employer of a driver
- the prime contractor of a driver
- the operator of a vehicle
- the scheduler of goods or passengers for transport by the vehicle and also the scheduler of its driver
- both the consignor and consignee of the goods transported by the vehicle
- the loading manager i.e. the person who supervises loading or unloading or manages premises where regular loading or unloading occurs
- and the loader and unloader of the goods carried by the vehicle
At the end of these online programs you will understand how to comply with the new legislation. You will understand what ‘reasonable steps’ can be taken to prevent a breach from occurring in your workplace or as a result of your activities.
There are no limits to the ways in which you can do this. What constitutes reasonable steps will vary according to each individual’s circumstances. You may need to change the way you do business on a daily basis. Taking reasonable steps could include:
- developing an industry code of practice
- use of accreditation schemes
- reviewing your business practices
- changing your commercial arrangements
- adopting a risk management approach
Taking ‘reasonable steps’
Under the new laws, everyone in the supply chain must take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent driver fatigue and ensure a driver does not drive a heavy vehicle while impaired by fatigue – an approach consistent with existing Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) laws.
Employers and customers will be held accountable for dangerous work schedules and long truck queues, which are known to be major causes of fatigue. If poor business practices endanger the lives of other road users, there will be severe penalties for those responsible.
Penalties escalate sharply for offences which pose a serious road safety risk and may include court-imposed fines of up to $50,000 and demerit points.
Pointing the finger at someone else who has broken the law does not automatically mean you are no longer responsible. In some circumstances, you may have multiple duties under the Chain of Responsibility and are therefore also liable.
To comply with the law, you should ensure that you can demonstrate reasonable steps were taken to prevent a breach from occurring in your workplace or as a result of your activities.
