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Upcoming written work diary changes and the new Unfit to Drive duty as part of the upcoming Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) amendments is set to support heavy vehicle drivers and reduce their administrative load.
The NHVR’s Manager of Fatigue and Human Factors Matt Bolin clarified the benefits of the changes in the latest episode of the regulator’s What’s Your 20? podcast.
In the episode he talks to hosts Rob and Sarah about the ongoing importance of fatigue management, work diary fine myths and written work diary improvements.
In particular, Mr Bolin dispelled a common myth around spelling mistakes in work diaries attracting fines.
“It’s a common concern in industry - we’re here to look at the accuracy of the information that’s recorded. If we’ve got accurate records that show the time and the location we don’t mind if there are a couple of little errors in there.
“If it’s indiscernible as to where you’ve stopped, that’s when we might have a problem.”
Mr Bolin explained the new Unfit to Drive duty in the HVNL amendments was one of the most significant changes for drivers and operators to be aware of.
“The new duty applies to anyone who drives a heavy vehicle, not just fatigue regulated heavy vehicle drivers – it's really about empowering drivers to say to their operator I’m not fit to drive, I can’t meet my safety obligations under the act, I have to stop work,” Mr Bolin said.
He also called out changes to the NHVR’s written work diary that will deliver time savings for drivers by removing some mandatory entries that are no longer essential for demonstrating compliance, while still prioritising the collection of data that manages fatigue.
The changes include some fields on the daily driver’s sheet becoming optional, such as calculating the work and rest hour totals and marking the day of the week section.
He said changes to the specifications and interface of electronic work diaries were also part of the HVNL implementation and designed to make the data collection more robust and practical.
The NHVR has resources to help operators ensure they are adhering to the regulations around fatigue management, as well as guidelines on what’s changing with the HVNL reform and work diaries.