11:00 am, Wednesday 19 December, 2012

A central Queensland truck driver who works as a sub-contractor has raised concern that roads that “bleed” and flick loose stones into traffic is a risk for him and other truck drivers.

Recently his windscreen was cracked on a stretch of road in Emerald and his question according to the Central Queensland News is who foots the bill for the damage when it is caused while he is working.

His livelihood and safety in his workplace partly relies on the roads being in a proper state of repair.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has called for the government to consider all heavy vehicle road accidents to be investigated as workplace incidents. Six trucks have been involved in three accidents with three fatalities on Queensland’s roads recently.

Peter Biagini the TWU Queensland Branch secretary said that the job of a truck driver is to drive yet if they are involved in an accident a workplace health and safety investigation is not conducted.

He said that truck accidents needed to be scrutinised as workplace incidents to understand what caused them.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

01:41 pm, Wednesday 17 October, 2012

The ALC (Australian Logistics Council) has claimed that roads would be safer if privacy laws could be bypassed and driver records were available to transport companies in a submission to the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.

According to the ALC transport companies must be able to verify if both employees and contractors who are utilising the company vehicles have a valid licence to do so.

The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal was established by the federal government in July this year listen to all concerns regarding the trucking industry such as remuneration, working conditions and the causes of fatalities.

The tribunal is accepting submissions at the moment that will be consider in 2013.

However the TWU (Transport Workers Union) has said that the ALC are seeing drivers as the only cause of road deaths and in their submission to the tribunal have stated that the large retailers are risking driver’s safety.

According to Tony Sheldon, the TWU national secretary, retailers are imposing unrealistic deadlines and drivers felt compelled to carry loads that are overweight, speed and work more hours than were deemed safe.

More information about the tribunal can be seen at their website.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

11:00 am, Monday 8 October, 2012

Photo: SafetyCulture Library

There has been a marked increase in truck accidents on the Hume Hwy that runs between Melbourne and Sydney and there are indicators that are pointing to driver fatigue rather than other causes.

According to an ABC report a senior sergeant at Seymour Police Station is asking for additional resources to deal with driver fatigue following nine truck accidents recently in North East Victoria on the Hume with seven over a ten day period.

The Police work alongside VicRoads to make sure that trucking regulations are followed and there are concerns that because most of the accidents are single vehicles leaving the road that it is fatigue that is the main factor.

The Director of VicRoads, Davide Shelton, also expressed concern and feels that it is essential to work alongside the transport operators to learn more about what is causing the accidents as they usually have a greater understanding of the circumstances that surround an accident.

He said that there are stringent regulations that decide how many hours a truck driver can operate without resting. These regulations point liability towards the people that are involved in the supply chain logistics.

The TWU (Transport Workers Union) is saying that it is usually the drivers not the transport operators that are penalised and blamed for breaching regulations.

In a study conducted by the TWU that questioned 200 drivers, 85% said that pressure from large customers was the primary cause of unsafe driving practices.

Over 50% admitted that vehicle maintenance was delayed so they could keep working and a third of those surveyed worked 60 hours a week and 5% worked over 100 hours.

According to the TWU drivers feel compelled to breach regulations to keep their jobs.

Report by Zoe Dunbar - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know

06:45 pm, Tuesday 29 November, 2011

A recent survey conducted by the Transport Workers Union’s revealed that one in four truck drivers were pressured to drive at risky speeds to meet deadlines and that they are pushed through their limit.

The Transport Workers’ Union’s 2011 Safe Rates Survey which was done over a three-week period was concluded on 11 November 2011. The survey was conducted to 715 transport workers across Australia.

In a news release, TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon said that these results confirm the pressure that powerful industry clients can give to drivers and operators. “With no way to ensure cost recovery on essentials like fuel and maintenance, or when forced to work slabs of unpaid waiting time, truck drivers have to push themselves to – and something through – the limit,” said Mr. Sheldon.

The survey also showed that forty eight percent of truck drivers report to work one day a week in unpaid waiting time. For delivery drivers, it is more than 10 hours a week which results to 300-500 hours per year of working without pay. Fifty six percent of the drivers had to delay vehicle maintenance because of economic issues. The survey also revealed that twenty seven percent of the drivers had to drive at excessive speeds, while nearly forty percent were pressured to drive longer to meet client expectations.

The survey results supported the Department of Infrastructure and Transport’s 2010 Road Deaths Australia Report, which shows that there were 256 fatalities from crashes involving heavy trucks.

Mr. Sheldon said that the Safe Rates Survey was conducted to address the economic aspects which contribute to crashes and other issues in the road transport industry.

“All of the evidence tells us that we need an independent tribunal to establish and maintain enforceable rates and related conditions. All drivers must be able to make a living for themselves and their families, and safely,” said Mr. Sheldon.

Report by Haydee - Do you have an OHS News Story - Let us know