The Australian Logistics Council has called for amendments to the proposed Road Safety Remuneration Bill to meet a number of industry concerns.

 

ALC Managing Director Michael Kilgariff has told a House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications Inquiry that the Bill will neither improve safety or increase productivity in the heavy vehicle sector.

 

“Rather than improving safety, the Bill will add another layer of unnecessary regulation that will impede industry efforts to improve safety and productivity levels which have flatlined in recent years,” Mr Kilgariff said.

 

“From 1 January 2013, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator will come into effect which will bring a greater national focus to key safety initiatives such as Chain of Responsibility and fatigue management. These laws need to be given time to be implemented and bedded down.

 

“We now know that Constitutional limitations will restrict the new tribunal to covering just 60 percent of owner-drivers and 80 percent of employee drivers, which is an unworkable situation and requires further consideration by Government.

 

“ALC is also concerned about the wide powers the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal has to make orders in matters ‘related to remuneration, such as loading practices.

 

“This could impact on industry efforts to implement continuous safety improvements, as practices are ‘snap frozen’ to what a tribunal considers to be good practice irrespective of subsequent improvements that develop over time in workplaces”, he said.

 

ALC tabled the latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) which showed a downward trend in the number of fatalities involving heavy trucks.

 

The report reveals fatal crashes involving heavy rigid trucks decreased by 12 per cent over the last year, and by 14 percent over the three years to June 2011.

 

“The improvement reflected in the statistics is encouraging and reinforces efforts by industry and government to develop and implement safety schemes that are workable and effective,” Mr Kilgariff said.

 

ALC believes if the Bill is to proceed, it should be substantially amended to satisfy a number of industry concerns. These amendments include:

  • restricting the work of the Tribunal to remuneration matters and ensuring research is subject to stakeholder review
  • requiring the Tribunal to explain why workplace health and safety or heavy vehicle laws are insufficient
  • ensuring the bill only covers remuneration issues relating to long distance operations
  • requiring the Tribunal to provide reasons why an existing instrument (including a modern award under Fair Work Australia) does not adequately cover the subject matter of an Order.

 

A summary of the ALC position on the Road Safety Remuneration Bill, and BITRE’s Fatal heavy vehicle crashes Australia quarterly bulletin April-June 2011 are available here.