New primary duty laws come into place in mid-2018. This means that every party in the heavy vehicle transport supply chain has an obligation to eliminate or minimise potential harm by taking all reasonably practicable steps to ensure safety.

Sound familiar? Well, that’s not surprising; the new laws are very much in line with workplace health and safety law.

These new laws do not only apply to the traditional transport companies moving freight around the country. Operators of diverse fleets such as councils and utility companies must also comply. Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) applies to all persons operating heavy vehicles regardless of the employment status of those involved, for example a volunteer community bus driver and those managing the driver’s activities must comply. HVNL also applies to any vehicle (save rolling stock) over 4.5 tonne operated on the road network. This includes graders, cranes etc.

According to NHVR, the best way to meet Heavy Vehicle National Law obligations is to:

• Identify, assess, evaluate and control risk
• Manage compliance with speed, fatigue, mass, dimension, loading and vehicle standards (the elements of CoR) through identified best practice
• Involve regular reporting, including to executive officers
• Document or record actions taken to manage safety

To support compliance with these obligations, NHVR have published a range of resources including; a CoR gap assessment tool, an introduction to risk management and a guide to safety management systems. In addition, there are a number of videos including a recent addition on Industry approaches to safety management systems.