The Construction Logistics Community Safety Standard Australia (CLOCS-A) was activated on July 1, 2024. Initially the standard was developed through the seed funding obtained through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) grant scheme that supported the CLOCS standard development in Australia.
There are some 200 elements in the standard, evolved through the efforts of the four National Road Safety Partnership Program’s (NRSPP) standards’ committees.
The rollout of the standard was awarded to CILT-Australia (CITA) in June 2023. The CLOCS-A IT platform hosts: the auditor registrations, assessment, exams, driver training, transport and construction company certification applications was activated three months ago in July.
Since this time, industry presentations have continued in NSW and Victoria as well as through national webinars which have helped answer several frequently asked industry questions with regard the CLOCS-A standard’s implementation.
A tiered focus for CLOCS-A adopters
CLOCS-A is a dual tiered certification. The first tier is by the type of standard adopter. These are:
The second tier reflects the level of accreditation the applicant applies for. These are gold, silver or bronze. Each level reflects the take-up of specific segments within the CLOCS-A standard.
Significant contract and tendering implications
As much as the prime focus of CLOCS-A is on the safety of some seven classes of vulnerable road users and their interactions with the various configurations of heavy construction trucks, there are other highly significant implications tied to the adoption of the CLOCS-A standard.
One major implication is that future construction and transport fleets that provide the services and resources at major construction sites may well need CLOCS-A accreditation in order to tender for these state contracts or local government contracts specifically if they are being state government funded.
The full implications of this statement may well be very significant for a company’s future contract tender aspirations. This can significantly impact on applications for local government and state government tenders and heavy vehicle tenders for construction work with not only major developers, but also state and local governments.
Frequently asked CLOCS-A questions can be accessed here.
More recently queries regarding the commonality/overlap, if any, with existing accreditations have been raised.
Legal heavy vehicles operations are considered as fundamental to CLOCS-A. This includes respective NHVAS operational elements and CoR relating to contracted Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
However, more than 95 per cent of the CLOCS-A standard is independent and unique. Existing lead auditor qualifications can be streamlined for: NHVAS auditors, AMCAS consultants who have lead auditor qualifications or ISO and OH&S lead auditors that have HV transport experience. All CLOCS-A auditors require a Construction Safety White card.
These are the more common pathways to becoming a CLOCS-A auditor. The compulsory driver training at this time is free and delivered online only, and not conducted in classroom.
This allows drivers to continue their driving duties with minimalist downtime. This is true for the driver bronze, silver, and gold vulnerable road user training.
Keep up to date
CLOCS-A produces a monthly newsletter. Current and previous newsletters can be found here.
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