Queensland WHS inspectors will carry out audits targeting operators with the greatest vehicle immobilisation exposure risks
Unsafe heavy vehicle and trailer immobilisation has caused numerous fatalities, serious injuries and significant property damage when heavy vehicles roll away or move unintentionally.
Starting 2023, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) inspectors will audit businesses from all industries across the state to assess how the risks of heavy vehicles rolling away or moving unintentionally are being managed.
The audit phase extends from a safety campaign conducted to help businesses identify the causes of unsafe immobilisation, provide resources on how to manage these risks, and ensure compliance with work health and safety laws.
From 2016 to 2018, WHSQ inspectors carried out more than 400 assessments, with improvement notices issued for:
Workers not safely immobilising trucks;
workers not coupling and decoupling trailers safely;
inadequate maintenance;
unsafe work conducted under trucks and trailers;
no or inadequate systems of work; and
inadequate worker training, information, supervision or instruction.
WSHQ inspectors will visit workplaces to target operators with the greatest vehicle immobilisation exposure risks.
The audits will focus on:
Safe systems of work for vehicles exiting and entering sites;
safe systems of work for workers exiting and entering vehicles during work;
adequacy of worker training, information, supervision and instruction to manage immobilisation risks;
ensuring vehicles are properly maintained; and
use of (where appropriate) and maintenance of brake alarms.
It’s important for those who own, oversee, or operate work vehicles to manage the risk of vehicles rolling away or moving unintentionally, by taking a systematic and holistic approach to compliance, using the highest level of control measures available.
In other news, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has opened submissions for Round 8 of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI).
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