Thursday, 15 March 2018
Austroads has published a draft work health and safety guide that describes a process for dealing with road traffic hazards in line with work health and safety (WHS) legislation and road traffic safety (RTS) principles.
The report discusses the context within which work health and safety and road traffic safety currently intersect, and the process followed during the preparation of the guide. It includes an engagement strategy to support ongoing work in the area and is itself supported by a communications plan and evaluation plan.
Work health and safety legislation in Australia and New Zealand defines vehicles as a workplace. Vehicle use in road traffic is by far the most significant contributor to work-related traumatic injury.
Austroads coordinates and leads safety research and projects tied to the implementation of the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020. Work-related road safety is a significant item in both Australia and New Zealand’s strategic road safety efforts.
In consultation with Safe Work Australia, Austroads initiated the project to reduce work-related road trauma and contribute to best practice road safety management by:
- fostering a strategic partnership between WHS and RTS authorities, and
- raising awareness of WHS duties in road transport.
The draft work health and safety guide provided in this report closes a gap in the provision of work health and safety guidance on managing vehicle use in road traffic. It provides pointers on how to address road traffic as a hazard, and on the hazards that are likely to be encountered in the use of vehicles in road traffic.
Report link: Vehicles as Workplace