The Chain of Responsibility (CoR) legislation has meant that more business owners and employees need to be extra mindful of the work they do being part of a larger safety picture.
The new laws, which went into effect around most of the country at the start of October 2018, were part of amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law. In an overall sense, the legislation makes every person who designs, manufactures, sells and services heavy vehicle machinery also responsible for the safety of the operator and any bystanders.
The actual legislation is, of course, more complex than that, and there are virtual mountains of paperwork to go through in order to get a complete understanding of the CoR requirements as they pertain to a particular industry or business. This makes knowing what your individual requirements are an arduous task at best.
This is where National Transport Insurance (NTI)’s newly-launched online Chain of Responsibility Health Check tool becomes invaluable.
NTI focus on safety
Chief Customer Officer of NTI, Christopher Hogarty, said that the company developed the tool so business operators would be assured they are following the legislation correctly.
“Our latest offering is about safety for all Australians from road users to operations managers, load handlers to business owners – everyone in the supply chain,” said Hogarty.
“We’re here to help organisations benchmark themselves within the transport and logistics industry and provide tools and solutions to progress their pathway to compliance,” he said.
As part of a larger commitment from NTI to increase safety levels across the board of the local industry, they worked with local resources and legislators to make the Health Check tool as comprehensive as possible. Thanks to the large network of connections to the local industry experts NTI has already fostered as part of its separate insurance arm, the organisation understands the varying compliance obligations that CoR represents.
NTI’s research showed that small to medium-sized businesses needed extra guidance to help them steer through changes posed by the new CoR rules. This led to them developing the CoR Health Check as well as providing people with a raft of risk management tools and templates for any occasion and business size, all in the name of making drivers safer.
Online tools at the ready
Tools such as this help give operators an objective way to measure their safety performance and the knowledge to make the correct steps for a safer future.
The tool, available at http://www.nti.com.au/npower, guides the user through a series of questions about their current role and safety practices and then generates a report which can be used to heighten readiness. NTI make a point of noting that the tool should only be used as a guide and users should also seek legal advice for how up-to-date legislation applies to their particular circumstances.
NTI Transport & Logistics Risk Engineer Adam Gibson, said that “in simplest terms, it’s a ‘readiness’ assessment. We’re breaking down what can seem like an overwhelming, complex issue, to help businesses see where their compliance gaps are and how to navigate them.”
He added that “the CoR Health Check is our first resource of this type. We’re continuing to build additional resources to assist specific segments in the transport and logistics industry such as consignors and one to three truck businesses.”
