Kilgariff reiterates council's belief in performance of industry-led safety initiatives
July 2, 2012
The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has put together a Retail Logistics Supply Chain Code of Practice (RLSC) factsheet.
The release at the weekend of the guide to the industry-driven code, aimed at improving safety in the heavy vehicle industry, coincided with that of appointments to the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.
The ALC has highlighted in the past its belief that formation of the tribunal has occurred without proper regard to the effect of industry safety codes and regards it very much as a union-driven initiative.
The latest of these industry codes, the Coal Seam Gas Logistics Safety Code of Practice, got underway last week.
“The RLSC was developed to ensure participants in the freight logistics supply chain industry are aware of their responsibilities when they control or influence the movement of freight,” ALC Managing Director Michael Kilgariff says.
“Under the RLSC, signatories to the code are required to actively demonstrate they are implementing positive actions to adhere to the required elements of the code, including, for example, speed management, fatigue and loading.
“ALC is expanding the RLSC so that it covers a greater range of participants in the supply chain, and we are working towards having the RLSC registered under the Heavy Vehicle National Law due to commence in January 2013.
“The Heavy Vehicle National Law will deliver for the first time a national approach to Chain of Responsibility (COR) obligations, and registration of the RLSC will provide its members with greater assurance they are meeting their CoR requirements.
“ALC has written to the country’s transport, safety and police ministers to highlight how the retail logistics supply chain industry is working to improve safety in the heavy vehicle industry.”
Regarding the tribunal, the council is keen for it to stay focused on road safety.
Otherwise, it sees a real potential to “duplicate related regulatory arrangements and significantly impact on the ability of businesses to run their operations in a commercially efficient and safe manner”, Kilgariff says.
“ALC will continue to engage with Government on this issue to ensure the voice of industry is heard and to monitor any cases where the tribunal rulings may limit industry’s ability to manage its own commercial affairs in a strategically appropriate way.
“ALC believes safety outcomes are better served through effective industry-led safety initiatives, such as the RLSC.”
The fact sheet can be found at:
http://austlogistics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Media-Backgrounder-Retail-Logistics-Supply-Chain-Code-of-Practice.pdf
