The focus on senior people is growing more acute by the month
Tragically, almost every injury or death involving a heavy vehicle could have been prevented.
Investigators can often trace back how these injuries or deaths occurred, and pinpoint the exact moment where the situation could have ended differently – if only those in charge had stepped in and done the right thing.
There is a clear push by many in the heavy vehicle industry for the NHVR to prosecute the decision-makers – those higher up the supply chain – and for these offences, where their actions, or their failure to act, exposed a person to serious injury or death.
Primary duty legislation under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) exists for such offences, where a risk of illness, serious injury or death occurs.
These are the most serious offences, and carry the maximum penalties available under the HVNL.
For example, a Category 1 offence, where parties are reckless to the risk of serious injury or death, holds a maximum penalty of $300,000 and/or five years imprisonment for an individual and a $3 million fine for a corporation.
In addition to primary duty offences, executives also have an obligation to comply with the safe conduct of transport activities and eliminate or minimise hazards or risks, including public risk, associated with those activities.
Depending on the level of breach, they may also carry up to five years imprisonment.
By prosecuting those in leadership positions, there is a much greater chance of real behavioural change from the top down, which is more effective than if the driver was charged.
Industry has been calling out for us to prosecute the decision makers for negligence, and we’ve answered the call.
It is incredibly motivating to be a part of an organisation that prosecutes these types of offences, which help put a stop to unsafe behaviours and holds the small group of operators that cut corners and take safety risks for a commercial gain, to account.
In the last 12 months, we’ve seen a 2,000% increase in prosecuting primary-duty offences, and we’ve we continued to seek strong sentences for these offences before the courts – nearly half of which involved fatalities.
Two dangerous themes that have emerged from the incidents we are prosecuting are driver fatigue and insufficient load restraint of heavy vehicles.
At the time of writing, there is a case involving two linked Brisbane-based companies charged with primary duty offences following an incident in Queensland.
The incident resulted in the death of a heavy vehicle driver who had allegedly been awake for 18-and-a-half hours and suffered from sleep apnoea.
We continue to prosecute an incident where a South Australian manufacturing company and its executive were also charged with primary duty offences.
This incident occurred when a poorly-restrained load on a trailer caused metal beams to smash the rear window of a prime mover cabin at a traffic light, which exposed the driver to risk of serious injury or death.
From these examples, you can see the reckless and unnecessary risks some companies and executives are taking, and how serious the consequences can be.
What’s worse is that these examples were not technical breaches. The leaders involved should and do know better, yet they failed to act.
There is no excuse for poor safety measures in any organisation.
Companies have options for drivers when it comes to fatigue management, and work and rest hours. There is also an easy-to-use load-restraint guide available to ensure the safe and efficient transportation of loads.
The role of a prosecution, however, cannot take away the importance of education and prevention, which is why we continue to partner with police agencies and key associations to educate industry on their safety duties and responsibilities.
Regardless of the size of your business, having an effective Safety Management System (SMS) can be one of the best ways of ensuring you have a safety-focused business and are complying with your safety duty obligations.
For more information, check out the NHVR’s 9 Step SMS Roadmap at https://www.nhvr.gov.au/safety-accreditation-compliance/safety-management-systems
You should also regularly assess your risk management processes and guidelines against those outlined in the Master Industry Code of Practice.
This is a guide to national standards and procedures for all heavy vehicle operators and supply chain parties to be safe and compliant.
The Master Industry Code of Practice is also available on our website – www.nhvr.gov.au – search Master Code.
Belinda Hughes is director prosecutions at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator