Much unfinished business needs attention to realise expected gains, Kursius says
Progress on Chain of Responsibility (COR) has been made nationally but more needs to be done, early indications from a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator-driven survey on the initiative show.
The preliminary results show a review of business systems will boost heavy vehicle safety and productivity, the NHVR says.
According to compliance executive director Tony Kursius, the survey of 800 transport and logistics supply chain businesses shows there were still improvements to be made in implementing and managing COR.
“The initial finding of the survey showed four out of five companies believed they had all or some systems in place to provide adequate COR training for managers,” Kursius says.
“We will now continue to work with these companies and those who don’t have any systems in place to improve their safety performance.
“The survey was aimed at both the heavy vehicle industry and the supply chain throughout Australia to gather information that can be delivered to support business that impact safety across the heavy vehicle industry.”
While the full report, to be delivered by our partners Macquarie University, is due out next year, the initial results supported the early release of a suite of information including fact sheets and podcasts, the national regulator notes.
Kursius says 90 per cent of participants considered everyone in the supply chain responsible for safety in transport operations.
“In 70 per cent of businesses, refusing unsafe work is encouraged by management and staff – we would like to see this number much higher,” he adds.
“Business systems and processes to improve COR awareness and safety should be paramount – poor safety will lead to productivity losses.”
The results will help the NHVR design education packages to ensure “a greater awareness of COR safety across the heavy vehicle supply chain”, it says.
Recently the NHVR released its first series of podcasts and factsheets for the heavy vehicle supply chain as part of a national effort to boost safety for all road users.