Chain of Responsibly – Policies and Procedures Manual
Document No: MBG.170.1.0 | Release Date: 21 November 2020 | Author: Transchoice | Approved: Taylor
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to, its employees, sub-contractors, customers and suppliers in relation to:
Controlling, managing, operating and auditing the Chain of Responsibility of Heavy Vehicle road transport freight movements; and
Complying with chain of Responsibility legislation.
In addition, Chain of Responsibility legislation has been effected across Australia in terms of the;
Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL);
Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
The legislation imposes liability for Heavy Vehicle offences on all people and/or businesses whose actions, inactions or demands influence conduct on the road as well as on-road parties such as drivers and carriers.
The Manual is not designed to replace any obligations arising from Chain of Responsibility legislation.
The aim of this Manual is to:
Minimise the risk along the Chain of Responsibility associated with vehicle movements;
Help Milbrae Business Group Pty Ltd (Milbrae) to comply with Chain of Responsibility legislation; and
Enhance Reasonable Steps Defence consistent with Chain of Responsibility legislation.
Scope
This Manual encompasses practices in relation to:
Packing, loading, consigning, scheduling, carrying, driving and receiving activities along the supply chain,
Load restraint,
Heavy vehicle mass,
Heavy vehicle dimension,
Heavy vehicle maintenance,
Heavy vehicle driver fatigue; and
Speed compliance.
This Manual applies to all Milbrae employees, contractors, sub-contractors and their employees who have direct or indirect involvement in the Supply Chain and all sites under the control of Milbrae.
Company Details
Name: Milbrae Quarries Pty Ltd
Head Office Address: 609 Colinroobie Rd Leeton NSW 2705
Postal Address: PO Box 225 Leeton NSW 2705
Contact Number: 02 6953 4401
Email: enquiries@milbrae.com.au
Name: Milbrae Concrete Pty Ltd
Head Office Address: Oakes Rd Griffith NSW 2680
Postal Address: PO Box 669 Griffith NSW 2680
Contact Number: 02 6962 1418
Email: whuber@milbrae.com.au
This Organisation Chart demonstrates the basic structure of relationships between various staff members.
The Directors have overall responsibility for compliance within Milbrae. They will nominate, from time to time, responsible staff members to under various tasks in the management of compliance, not only with CoR, but with other accountabilities within the company including NHVAS, WHS&E etc.
References
Main reference sites:
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR)
National Heavy Vehicle Law (NHVL)
State Transport Departments/NHVR — Chain of Responsibility references
Safe-Work NSW & Vic — Long Distance Truck Driver Fatigue
Work Health and Safety Act 20J 1 (Primary duty of care)
National Transport Commission (NTC) — Road Transport Reform (C&E) Bill 2003
Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Long Distance Truck Driver Fatigue) Regulation 2005
NTC Load Restraint Guide (2’ d Edition 2018)
Definitions
Carrier: means a person / business who transports freight for another person / business by means of a Heavy Vehicle. Carrier encompasses Head Carriers, Self-employed Carriers, Subcontract Carriers and Customer Pickups.
Chain of Responsibility (“CoR“): means the allocation of responsibility along the Supply Chain.
Consignee: means a person who carries on business to whom a consignment of freight is to be delivered.
Consignor: means a person who carries on business from whom a consignment of freight originates.
CoR Guidelines: means a document(s) on Chain of Responsibility requirements; including load restraint, heavy vehicle load mass and dimensions, driver fatigue and contractor safety practices.
Driver: means a person who drives a Heavy Vehicle.
DFMP: means a Driver Fatigue Management Plan setting out how the risk of driver fatigue in the Transport o f Freight Long Distance is to be managed.
Heavy Vehicle: means a motor vehicle or combination with a Gross Vehicle Mass (“GVM") over 4.5 tonnes.
Incident: means a risk or an outcome where harm or damage has been or could be done to people, plant, property or the environment by reason of a breach of the Chain of Responsibility legislation.
Key Criteria: means those actions or behaviours that Milbrae need to demonstrate in order to comply with this Code.
Loader: means a person who loads, manages or supervises the loading of freight or containers for transport by road onto a Heavy Vehicle.
Packer: means a person who places items in packages, containers or on pallets for consolidation or streamlining processes for later freight movement.
Reasonable Steps Defence: means in relation to an allegation that the operator breached Chain of Responsibility legislation:
That the person did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known of the breach; and either. o That the person had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the breach; or
There were no steps that the person could reasonably be expected to have taken to prevent the breach.
Receiver: means a person who takes physical receipt of transported goods at the end of the Supply Chain.
Scheduler: means a person who has the responsibility for allocation of freight task assignment times along the Supply Chain.
Site: means an area of owned or leased property where Milbrae has overall management control.
Supply Chain: means the transport logistics chain, encompassing packing, loading, consigning, scheduling, carrying, driving and receiving.
Transport of Freight Long Distance: means the transport of freight by means of a Heavy Vehicle (whether by a single journey or a series or journeys) more than 500 kilometres, including empty load collection or return route.
Who are the members in the chain of responsibility?
Consignors — those who commission the carriage of a load by road,
Packers — those who place goods in packages, containers or on pallets etc. transported by road,
Loaders — those who place (or restrain) the load on a vehicle,
Drivers — those who physically drive a Regulated Heavy Vehicle,
Operators and schedulers — those who operate the business that controls the use of a heavy vehicle,
Consignees — those who pay for the goods or take possession of the load (customers); and
Employers — managers of a business may also be personally liable for breaches by an employee.
Relevant job descriptions are maintained by Milbrae.
General
The primary reasons for Chain of Responsibility legislation are:
To improve road safety for drivers of Heavy Vehicles and members of the general public.
To limit the number and severity of Heavy Vehicle accidents / incidents and in doing so, reduce fatalities and the cost of damaged goods and equipment.
To establish a uniform code against which compliance can be measured.
Legislation attempts to do this by:
A. Mass - Checking that load weights are accurate and comply with safe limits set by legislation.
B. Load restraint - Checking that loads are adequately restrained.
C. Dimension - Checking that load dimension is within the prescribed limits; and
D. Speed - Ensuring that speed compliance is enacted and monitored
E. Fatigue - Ensuring that driver fatigue is managed and comply with the prescribed limits set down by legislation in the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).
F. Maintenance - Ensuring that all heavy vehicles are maintained in a safe and roadworthy condition, serviced and repaired to OEM supplier’s specifications —as a minimum standard.
Chain of Responsibility regulations are designed to ensure that all parties in the supply chain, either directly or by omission, do not cause a driver of a regulated heavy vehicle to breach road transport law in mass, dimension, load restraint, speed or fatigue.
Drivers and operators have traditionally been the focus of road laws — including those covering driving hours and fatigue management. However, breaches are often caused by the actions of others. We accept that the new Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue reform requires all parties in the supply chain to manage the causes of heavy vehicle driver fatigue.
Under these new laws, everyone in the supply chain, not just the driver, will have responsibilities to prevent breaches against road transport law and ensure drivers are able to comply with their legal requirements. If our actions, inactions or demands cause or contribute to road safety breaches then we can be held legally accountable. We accept that Authorities can investigate along the supply chain and up and down the corporate chain of command.
Document Control
The Director is responsible for ensuring standard document control procedures are maintained including removing obsolete documents, approving any changes to CoR documents, and any updates or changes are noted in the Amendment Register Sec 17 of the Manual.
Documents shall be provided to contractors and subcontractors where required.
Amendments to any documents is to be recorded on amendment register.
Documents may be scanned in and retained in alternate filing systems.
Distribution of Information
The Director will ensure that all staff members are made aware of any issues, activities or changes to the CoR Policy and Procedures by distributing memo’s and if required, conducting toolbox meetings and any other form of effective communication to ensure currency of information.
A file containing all records of CoR communications will be maintained by a responsible person nominated by the Director, including a distribution list of current employees who have received and signed for updates.
The Distribution List will be maintained under the Training and Education Section of the Manual and/or through our online employee portal.
Distribution List to sub-contractors will be maintained in the Sub-Contractor Management section of the manual.