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NHVR issues truck fire safety bulletin

Document outlines common causes and preventative actions

 

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has released its first bulletin aimed at reducing the risk of heavy vehicle fires, specifying the causes and preventative measures operators can take.

The bulletin is part of the NHVR’s ongoing investigation into heavy vehicle fires after a spate of incidents in the past year, NHVR safety standards director Tony Martin says.

“The intent of this safety bulletin is to raise awareness of the common fire risks that have been identified and to outline the actions required to help mitigate the risks,” Martin says.

“We recent sat down with a cross section of industry to tackle the issue of truck fires and it is clear that prevention is better than cure.


Read about the roundtable the identified common truck-fire issues, here


“We’ve outlined some measures available to different parts of the heavy vehicle industry that can assist in fire prevention.”

The bulletin identifies a number of common fire risks in heavy motor vehicles, predominantly:

  • shorting of electrical cables and connections
  • inappropriately rated electrical components
  • fuel line failures
  • heat generated by a turbocharger
  • maintaining a clean engine bay.

It outlines preventative actions operators should undertake, including:

  • reviewing the common causes of fires and identify those that may be present in their fleet
  • reviewing maintenance management systems to remove or reduce any risk factors, and improve the safety of their transport activities
  • ensuring those who carry out servicing or modification on higher-risk components or systems on their vehicles, such as electrical systems, have measures in place to verify that fire risks are not introduced.

Martin encourages operators who experience a heavy vehicle fire incident, or a near-miss event, to report the incident.

“This allows the NHVR to improve our understanding of this safety-critical issue.

“Reports can be made to the Heavy Vehicle Confidential Reporting Line or to the NHVR’s Vehicle Standards team.

“For operators accredited in the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme, reports can also be made to the NHVR’s Accreditation team.”

The bulletin is available here.

 

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