Note: This information is intended as general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. We encourage you to obtain independent advice about your legal obligations. If you have any feedback on the information provided, please contact us at info@nhvr.gov.au

This regulatory advice provides guidance on managing the risks associated with poorly maintained or unroadworthy heavy vehicles used in agricultural or seasonal work, such as harvest or snow activity.

Who is this advice for?

This regulatory advice is intended for:

• parties in the Chain if Responsibility(CoR) parties.

What are my legal obligations?

This means that you must eliminate or minimise public risks, and not directly or indirectly cause or encourage a driver or another person, including a party in the CoR, to breach the HVNL. You should also be aware that you are still responsible even when you contract or subcontract your transport activities. You can’t transfer your primary duty to another person or business or lessen your responsibility.

Put simply, the primary duty is your responsibility to do everything you can reasonably do to make your transport activities safe.

What are the legal consequences?

If your business is a party in the CoR and it fails to eliminate or minimise public risks so far as is reasonably practicable, then it may be in breach of its primary duty. If a breach is proven, the law provides sanctions against a company and its executives, ranging from education and improvement notices to prosecution.  

Am I a party in the Chain of Responsibility?

When undertaking transport activities in the agricultural sector, including seasonal work, you may be performing functions that make you a party in the CoR. If you perform one of the functions listed on the CoR Parties page, you or your business are accountable for heavy vehicle safety according to your primary duty. For example, when you or your business:

• direct and control the use of a heavy vehicle, you’re an operator
• consign goods for transport, including grain, other produce or livestock, you’re a consignor
• receive goods, you’re a consignee
• load the goods, you’re a loader.

Whether you or your business are a party in the CoR is based on the functions you perform, not your job title. More information about the CoR can be found at Chain of Responsibility | NHVR.

Why is this important to my business?

It’s important that all heavy vehicles including those used exclusively for agricultural or seasonal work are roadworthy. A well-maintained, mechanically safe and fit for purpose heavy vehicle will assist you in achieving:

• improved safety outcomes – safe, well-maintained, fit for purpose vehicles are less likely to be involved in incidents
• increased productivity – less downtime resulting from vehicle break downs or unexpected repairs
• increased efficiency – reliable service, reduced unexpected service costs associated with call-out repairs, and fuel efficiency (reduced hours worked, wage savings)
• improved staff retention – well-maintained vehicles provide drivers with confidence and avoid breakdown delays.

This regulatory advice seeks to provide CoR parties with information to help them eliminate or minimise risks, so far as is reasonably practicable, associated with the use of heavy vehicles in the agricultural sector or used for seasonal work.

Note: Ensuring the safety of your transport activities and meeting your primary duties under the HVNL while operating in the agricultural sector is addressed in detail in Regulatory Advice – Operating in the agricultural sector and is not discussed in this regulatory advice.

What are the hazards and risks?

Hazards associated with poorly maintained heavy vehicles used in agricultural or seasonal work may include:

• mechanical failure
• accelerated wear and tear due to a build-up of dirt, mud and other contaminants, which can cause corrosion of heavy vehicle components and disguise defects, such as cracks
• incidents caused by mechanical failure or unroadworthy vehicles
• damage to the vehicle or infrastructure if it’s not fit for purpose
• loss of load.

The potential safety risks resulting from these hazards may include:

• serious injury or death
• damage to roads, and other public infrastructure
• harm to the environment
• reduced business efficiency and productivity
• delays and costs associated with down time of vehicles
• financial costs to repair the vehicle
• reputational damage.

Why is it important to manage the hazards and risks?

By appropriately managing these hazards and safety risks, CoR parties can:

• prevent serious injury and fatalities to heavy vehicle drivers, workers and other road users
• increase efficiency, due to reduced time for vehicle repairs and increased vehicle life
• avoid financial losses due to delays, impacts on scheduling, and damage to vehicles, equipment and infrastructure
• avoid harm to the environment
• become an employer of choice
• reduce the likelihood of regulatory and other legal sanctions.

How do I manage the hazards and risks?

As part of the risk management process, CoR parties should:

• identify hazards associated with their transport activities
• assess the risks associated with those hazards
• identify and implement appropriate control measures to eliminate or minimise those risks
• review the effectiveness of control measures, either periodically or after any incident, to ensure they remain effective.

Control measures may include:

• implementing, and adhering to, a systematic service schedule, with particular attention to vehicle component wear accelerated by the operating environment
• ensuring maintenance and repairs are carried out by a licenced mechanical workshop or suitably qualified mechanic
• ensuring vehicles that are used seasonally are inspected prior to use at the beginning of the season, with particular attention to brakes and tyres
• checking for signs of damage caused by rodent infestation during storage
• ensuring vehicles are mechanically safe by being properly maintained
• enrolling in maintenance management accreditation, such as NHVAS
• documenting what steps should be undertaken when placing equipment in storage (equipment stand-down procedure) and when reintroducing the equipment into use (stand-up procedure).
• implementing a Safety Management System (SMS) which includes, but is not limited to:
  • implementing a daily checklist to ensure the continued mechanical safety of vehicles
  • using a recording and reporting system for faults, defects, and maintenance history
  • ensuring any reported faults are responded to and fixed in a timely manner
  • grounding a vehicle that is unsafe and not allowing the unsafe vehicle to be used until the defect has been rectified and the vehicle is safe.

Vehicle selection and maintenance schedules

When undertaking agricultural or seasonal work, you need to consider the transport activity and the operating environment to ensure that you select an appropriate vehicle for the task. Once the vehicle has been selected, consider the following:

• Service schedule and service intervals
  • Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications provide detailed instructions for the frequency at which routine maintenance should be carried out on each part of a vehicle, and also recommend appropriate spare parts or replacements.
  • Service intervals should reflect the use and operating environment. Different operating environments will impact the service requirements and frequency.
• Assumed usage will impact on the service intervals. For example
  • The more kilometres travelled, the greater the impact on tyre usage and therefore, the shorter the service interval for tyre checks will be.
  • If travelling through more water than usual, you’ll need to undertake visual inspections of components impacted by water, such as checking:
    • for obvious signs of leaks and water damage – for example, oil that has been contaminated with water will look cloudy or ‘milky’
    • brakes and brake components are clear from debris and mud, especially automatic slack adjusters
    • steering and suspension components are clear from debris and mud
    • electrical connections and sensors are not affected by water or corrosion and spray with an approved water dispersant lubricant if necessary
    • there are no foreign objects lodged in the undercarriage or cooling system of the vehicle.

For more information refer to the NHVR's Post flooding safety checklist.

Resources

Master Code

Guidance and direction on how to effectively introduce a risk management process within your business can be found in Section 3 of the Master Code.

Safety Management System (SMS)

Management of safety risks can be more effective with the adoption, development and active use of a Safety Management System (SMS).

An SMS is a systematic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organisational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures, which is integrated throughout the business wherever possible.

An SMS can help you:

• provide a safer work environment for your employees, customers, contractors and the public
• manage your safety duties under the HVNL
• demonstrate your ability to manage risk and ensure safety
• become an employer of choice and preferred supplier to customers
• make informed decisions and increase efficiency
• allocate resources to the most critical areas that have an impact on safety
• reduce costs associated with incidents and accidents.

Regardless of the size of a business, an effective SMS can help your business have an appropriate safety focus and comply with its duty to ensure the safety of its transport activities.

Structured information and resources including quick-guide documents, templates, worked examples and toolbox talks to guide you through each step of developing an SMS, implementing it with your management and staff, and extracting safety are available in the 9 Step SMS Roadmap.

Understand the HVNL and your primary duty

Transport activities

Transport activities include all the activities associated with the use of a heavy vehicle on a road. It includes safety systems, business processes such as contract negotiation and communication and decision making, as well as the activities normally associated with the transport and logistics sector such as training, scheduling, route planning, managing premises, selecting, and maintaining vehicles, packing, and loading and unloading.

So far as is reasonably practicable

So far as is reasonably practicable means an action that can reasonably be done in relation to the duty, considering relevant matters such as:

• the likelihood of a safety risk or damage to road infrastructure
• the harm that could result from the risk or damage
• what the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the risk or damage
• what the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the ways of removing or minimising the risk, or preventing or minimising the damage
• the availability and suitability of those ways
• the cost associated with the available ways, including whether the cost is grossly disproportionate to the likelihood of the risk or damage.

More information can be found in Regulatory Advice - Reasonably practicable.

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