ATA and ALC welcome government funding, say new codes will improve safety standards
The federal government has committed $350,000 to help heavy vehicle industry bodies and individual operators develop new codes of practice based on the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR) just-released guidelines.
The grants will cover development and registration costs.
The move has been welcomed by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) and the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) – two of the many organisations that worked with NHVR during its consultation phase.
Federal infrastructure and transport Darren Chester says the new codes will help businesses improve safety standards and avoid the risk of breaching the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
“This is another important step in the NHVR’s safety strategy, which includes new chain of responsibility laws, a national roadworthiness program, National Heavy Vehicle Inspection Manual and checklists.
ATA CEO Ben Maguire (pictured below) says the development of industry codes will complement the ATA’s TruckSafe program.
“Businesses in the TruckSafe program comply with five sets of standards and are audited regularly by experienced, qualified and objective auditors,” Maguire says.
“It will be important for safety to have industry codes freely available – but the best way a business can demonstrate its safety and guarantee that it meets our standards is to have an audit certificate and the TruckSafe tick.”
Both Maguire and ALC MD Michael Kilgariff agree that the new codes of practice will improve safety standards across the transport sector.
“Codes of practice will provide a safer and more accountable heavy vehicle industry and we look forward to their development and implementation,” Kilgariff says.
Maguire says having general safety duty on businesses is a key part of the industry best practice safety regulation.
“Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, these codes are to be developed by industry in accordance with the guidelines now published by the regulator,” he adds.
“In a series of discussions, the ATA and its members put forward closely argued views about issues including intellectual property, the use of examples in codes and how codes should be updated.
“I’d like to thank the NHVR and everyone involved for their willingness to engage in these detailed technical discussions.”