Regulatory compliance is critical in transport training.
Regulatory compliance is essential for every industry and business. Regulatory compliance is when entities obey and follow laws and regulations relevant to their operations. State, Commonwealth, and international laws mandate these laws and regulations. As such, all businesses should adhere to these regulations, no matter their size.
Regulatory compliance involves following a set of guidelines to ensure a variety of things. For instance, Safe Work Australia develops national policies to ensure the work health and safety of the workforce and to improve workers’ compensation.
Regulatory compliance can also be industry specific. For example, the National Safety and Quality Health Safety Standards strives to elevate the level of care provided by health service organisations and providers to customers. The National Construction Code helps ensure building safety, quality, accessibility, amenability, and sustainability.
The Importance of Regulatory Compliance in the Transport Industry
The transport industry has its own set of regulations and standards that businesses involved should follow. Entities that provide transport training should incorporate them in their curricula and operations to elevate the quality of transport professionals that they produce.
Heavy truck drivers that know and understand these regulations are more inclined to be productive, safe, and responsible drivers. Transport business operators that understand them are more likely to create a safe and healthy working environment for their drivers. Compliance with transport regulations helps create safer roads for the workers in the transport industry and the community.
The National Transport Commission works with the Australian transport industry, Commonwealth, state, territory, and local government bodies to create codes and guidelines for safer road transport. They help reduce the risks of death, injury, and illness for transport workers while on duty.
Some of the important rules and regulations that must be followed and taught during transport training will be discussed in subsequent sections.
Australian Dangerous Goods Code
The Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail provides the requirements that people involved in transporting hazardous goods should comply with.
Compliance with the Code is necessary to help prevent and reduce the risks of damage to people, the environment, and property.
The Code applies to dangerous materials such as the following:
- Gases
- Flammable Liquids
- Flammable Solids
- Self-reactive and Desensitised Explosives
- Substances that Spontaneously Combust
- Substances that are Harmful when Wet
- Oxidising Substances
- Organic Peroxides
- Toxic Substances
- Infectious Substances
- Corrosive Substances
The code provides information and guidelines on the following:
- Classification of Substances
- Packaging and Performance Testing
- Using Bulk Containers, Freight Containers, IBCs, and Unit Loads
- Marking and Placarding
- Segregation and Stowage
- Vehicular Requirements
- Documentation
- Transfer of Bulk of Dangerous Goods
- Safety Equipment Needed
- Procedures for Transport Emergencies
The Code incorporates specific requirements that more accurately reflect contemporary Australian practises and situations and is linked with the United Nations Guidelines for the Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations.
The Code is a crucial technical tool for ensuring the safe operation of Australia’s transport and logistics sector while transporting hazardous materials. All participants in the supply chain, including the consignor, packer, truck driver, and dangerous goods transportation firms, as well as dangerous goods experts and trainers, must be aware of and adhere to the Code’s standards.
Load Restraints for Heavy Vehicles
The Heavy Vehicle National Law requires the transport industry to comply with its set of loading requirements.
Loading requirements are necessary to maintain the safety of the people involved in the transport of goods, other drivers, property, and the community.
Poorly loaded vehicles or loads with insufficient restraint can result in injuries and deaths due to the following:
- Objects falling off from moving vehicles and hitting other vehicles and pedestrians
- Other drivers swerving to avoid falling objects from transport vehicles
- Other drivers skidding and losing control because of spillage from transport vehicles
- The loads crashing into the truck’s cabin during an emergency brake
- The transport vehicles rolling over when making turns because of shifting loads
The Load Restraint Guide published by NTC requires heavy vehicles to have a load restraint system that prevents the load from moving and being dislodged.
It provides guidelines for different load types, such as:
- Dangerous Goods
- General Freights
- Packs, Pallets, and Stillages
- Pipes, Tubes, Rods, and Bars
- Rolls, Coils, Drums, and Reels
- Contained Loads
- Vehicles and Mobile Equipment
- Intermediate Bulk Containers
- Livestock
- Scaffolding
- Logs
- Sheets and Flat Loads
- Bags, Bales, and Sacks
The guide also details the use of standard restraint equipment and vehicle structures used to restrain loads, including:
- Side Gates
- Synthetic Ropes
- Barriers
- Webbing
- Chain
- Headboards and Loading Racks
- Chocks, Cradles, and A-Frames
- Tarpaulins
Assessing Fitness to Drive
Knowing how to drive and operate heavy vehicles does not mean a person is fit to drive. The Assessing Fitness to Drive (AFTD) is a collaborative work between the National Transport Commission and Austroads. It provides medical standards that drivers should comply with before they get their licenses.
To determine a patient’s medical fitness to drive, health providers use AFTD. Authorities in charge of issuing driver’s licences then take this information into account when granting them.
It offers guidance on how medical issues could affect someone’s capacity for safe driving. The recommendations are based on the most recent medical understanding and input from:
- Health Organisations
- Patient Advocacy Organisations
- Licencing Authorities for Drivers
- Industry
While currently out of scope, the NTC is working on the inclusion of the following items, which are essential in the heavy transport industry:
- Mandatory screening for heavy vehicle drivers
- Guidance on “fitness for duty” for heavy vehicle drivers.
Are Transport Schools Also Mandated to Follow Regulations?
Registered Training Organisations, such as transport schools, are also required to comply with the standards to ensure that they continuously provide high-quality student experiences and learning outcomes.
Training schools are guided in their assignment of authorised officers, assessment of their financial viability risks, monitoring and reporting of third-party arrangements and relations, and reporting of its performance.
Do You Want to Work in The Transport Industry? Enrol now at CS Transport Training!
Newcastle-based CS Transport Training is a transport training company that is locally owned and operated. It has over 30 years of expertise in the UK and Australia’s transportation and dangerous goods industries. The Central Coast, Newcastle, and Mid-North Coast are just a few of the service areas covered by CSTT. Call us now on 0434366758 or send your enquiries to chris@cstt.com.au.