Chain of Responsibility Awareness

Topics covered:

• Understanding the Chain of Responsibility legislation and its purpose
• Recognise who can be held responsible under Chain of Responsibility
• Identify legislative requirements, offences and penalties
• Understand what must be managed to avoid road safety breaches
• Understand specific responsibilities of certain parties in the transport chain

Course Introduction

Topic 1: What is Chain of Responsibility?
Section 1: Who’s Responsible?
Section 2: The Transport Chain
Section 3: Heavy Vehicle National Law framework
Topic 2: Primary Responsibilities and Risk management
Section 1: Primary Duty and Reasonably Practicable Requirements
Section 2: Risk Management – Identifying Hazards
Section 3: Risk Management – Assessing Risk
Section 4: Risk Management – Controlling Risk
Section 5: Risk Management – Monitoring Risk
Topic 3: Legislative requirements, offences and penalties
Section 1: Managing Chain of Responsibility Risks
Section 2: Preventing road safety breaches
Section 3: Penalties
Topic 4: What Needs to be Managed?
Section 1: Speed Management
Section 2: Fatigue Management and Driver Health
Section 3: Vehicle Loads
Section 4: Dangerous Goods
Topic 5: Specific Responsibilities
Section 1: Shared Responsibilities
Section 2: Owners, operators, employers and managers
Section 3: Executive officers
Section 4: Prime Contractors, Consignors and Consignees
Section 5: Packers
Section 6: Loading managers
Section 7: Loaders and unloaders
Section 8: Drivers
Section 9: Schedulers
Section 10: Receivers

State/Territory Chain of Responsibility Legislation

In 2014, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, known as the NHVR, began operating in most Australian states and territories, including:

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• The Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria

The NHVR regulates heavy vehicles that have a gross vehicle mass of over 4 and a half tonnes and with its introduction came a new set of laws, called the Heavy Vehicle National Laws (HVNL). The introduction of these laws mean that for the first time, heavy vehicle drivers, operators and others in the supply chain work to the same rules, regardless of where they work.

The concept of Chain of Responsibility is fully integrated into the Heavy Vehicle National Laws, meaning all parties in the road transport supply chain can be held responsible for their actions and inactions for breaches of:

• Road transport
• Fatigue
• Speed
• Mass
• Dimension
• Load restraint laws

AVELING’s Chain of Responsibility Awareness course covers the key concepts under the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) chain of responsibility requirements. More details are available from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

Following proclamation of supporting regulations, ‘Chain of Responsibility’ legislation was introduced into WA law on 27 April 2015. The Chain of Responsibility provisions recognise that all parties have safety responsibilities when goods are transported by road. More information is available from Main Roads WA

Employers may choose to use AVELING’s Chain of Responsibility course as part of their Risk Management plan, to educate off-road parties and drivers about their responsibilities for fatigue management, speed management and load size, dimension and weight limit.