The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has called for progress on chain of responsibility extension.
After the whole Cootes Transport fiasco, the ATA wants governments to implement a truck maintenance plan similar to the stringent rules that Cootes Transport are having to abide by in order to recover its safety and compliance record and continue to operate in NSW roads.
According to its Government Relations and Communications General Manager, Bill McKinley, chain of responsibility laws should be expanded to include vehicle maintenance. He was quoted as saying recently:
“Governments now need to press ahead with the ATA’s five point plan for improving vehicle maintenance and safety which includes extending the chain of responsibility laws to cover maintenance and a national rollout of mandatory electronic stability for dangerous goods tankers,” McKinley says.
“At present, this has only been implemented in NSW.”
Source: http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/news/industry/1403/truck-maintenance-plan-needed-now-ata/
The latest decision regarding Cootes Transport and whether or not they are allowed to operate in New South Wales by the state government is that as long as the transport company sticks to its plan to improve safety and compliance, they can continue to operate on NSW roads.
The NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay recently announced that the company would be allowed to continue to use the state’s roads after extensive investigations and the development of a safety and compliance plan.
The NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) issued a show cause notice to Cootes Transport following a number of alleged safety and chain of responsibility breaches which led authorities to question whether the company’s trucks should be allowed to operate on NSW roads or whether they were too big of a risk. The transport company then responded to the show cause notice and detailed why it should be allowed to continue operating in the state, despite its recent compliance failures.
The company has agreed to implement an action plan which according to the spokesperson for the company (from McAleese Group – Cootes parent company) demonstrated the company’s commitment to “safe operations”.
One of the changes the company has implemented is the introduction of a newer, more modern fleet of trucks to operate on the state’s roads.
Cootes spokesperson went on to state:
“As part of its action plan, Cootes Transport will continue to work cooperatively with the office of the Minister for Roads and Ports and RMS, and to provide them with regular reports detailing areas of maintenance and safety on an ongoing basis.”
Source: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1403/truck-maintenance-plan-needed-now-ata
In its submission to the Chain of Responsibility Review recently, the ATA has called for The Heavy Vehicle National Law to provide positive duties for individuals in the Chain of Responsibility and ensure people are considered innocent until proven guilty.
According to the ATA and its National Policy Manager David Coonan, COR legislation was currently unfair and offered parties limited defences under the “deemed guilty” provisions. He points out that COR was introduced as a way to make sure that those who have some influence on vehicles behaviour on the road be held accountable for their actions however because of “major flaws” in the revised Heavy Vehicle National Law, these provisions were unfair to parties and assumed companies and individuals were guilty rather than assuming them innocent until proven guilty.
The ATA has urged the government to shift the focus back onto improving road safety and not cutting as much of the workload for enforcement agencies as possible.
With legislation the way it stands at the moment, it is important that everyone involved in the chain of responsibility is aware of their responsibilities as well as the consequences that await both them and their employers if these responsibilities are not met.
Although many companies are beginning to learn from the example made of Cootes Transport following its safety breaches and the tanker crash in Mona Vale last year, it is important that operators ensure they understand what is expected of them and every employer is also aware of the role they play in road safety.
This training needn’t be costly or time consuming, there are various courses and study options available depending on an individual’s or company’s specific requirements, some people require just a basic understanding whereas others have a greater duty of care and therefore require even more understanding of Chain of Responsibility Legislation. There are also accredited and unaccredited options available, depending on your needs and budget.
In order to learn more about the Chain of Responsibility training and the options available, visit our homepage today or call one of our operators for more assistance.
