It used to be that drivers and operators were the ones that were liable for prosecution under the Australian road laws. However it eventually became evident that breaches were often being caused by the actions of others and reforms were undertaken to ensure that all people involved in the supply chain became responsible for managing driver fatigue. The new laws are called the Heavy Vehicle Driver Reform and everyone in the supply chain have to take actions to reduce fatigue including ensuring that drivers are complying with their legal work and legal rest hours. These laws also mean that if a person in the supply chain contributes to a breach through action, inaction or demands then they can be held legally accountable. Authorities, once these laws were implemented, became able to investigate the entire supply chain and this includes the corporate chain of command. People that are included in the supply chain

• The driver
• The drivers employer
• The vehicle operator
• The scheduler of goods/passengers/drivers
• Consignor/consignee
• The loading manager
• The person that loads and unloads vehicles

Reasonable steps need to be taken Every person in the supply chain is required to undertake reasonable steps to make sure that driver fatigue is minimised and drivers that are affected by fatigue should be prevented from driving a heavy vehicle. Both the employers and the customers may be held legally responsible for any work schedules that are considered dangerous and truck queues that are long – both of these factors are seen as major causes of driver fatigue. There are severe penalties if it is found that poor business practice has endangered the lives of other users on the countries roads. Examples of reasonable steps that can be taken include:

• Creating a Code of Practice for the industry
• Utilising schemes for accreditation
• Looking at all company business practices and updating them as required
• Altering unsuitable commercial arrangements
• Ensuring that risks are identified and that control measures are implemented

Anyone that has any control or can influence a task that is transport within a workplace must not:

• Make any type of demands that you know/should know would cause a breach
• Agree to contracts that would give an incentive for a breach
• Coerce, induce or encourage breaches
• Give false information that could actually cause a breach

Things worth considering for reasonable steps:

• Identify all risks and assess them
• Implement control measures to reduce or eliminate risks
• Ensure that your risk management system is constantly monitored and reviewed

If a court needs to decide whether you have taken reasonable steps to reduce fatigue they will look at factors such as:

• The extent of the breach and how serious it is
• The expertise, experience, abilities, knowledge, qualifications and provided training of the staff
• The type of breach and the circumstances that are surrounding it
• The available industry practices
• The measures that were available to take

**In Victoria drivers and operators cannot use reasonable steps as a defense. The practices of the business It is essential that business practices be regularly reviewed to make sure that all steps possible are taken to reduce fatigue. The things that you can consider are:

• Make sure that all of your business practices do not cause breaches
• Train staff so that they know their legal obligations in the chain of responsibility
• Surprise audits to ensure compliance
• Review contracts to ensure that they do not give incentive or encourage breaches
• Create contingency plans to manage any operational issues to be compliant under the law

Managing risks Some examples of how to identify risks include:

• Review driving and work schedules, work records and rest break records
• Review the loading and unloading times and recorded delays
• Review all commercial contracts and their conditions
• Regularly review driver fatigue levels

Some examples of how to manage risk include:

• Have contingency plans around work and rest hours
• Allow for traffic and other potential delays when scheduling
• Avoid all incentives or demands that may cause or encourage a breach
• Ensure that drivers a given enough notice of changes to schedules