QFleet Road Safety Manual - Department of Housing and Public ...

WHS law and work-related driving safety
Vehicle and driver safety is covered
by both WHS legislation and road
traffic laws
WHS obligations are owned by a number of persons,
including employers, workers and persons in control
of workplaces. 10 A workplace includes a vehicle used
for work-related purposes. A person who has a WHS
obligation may have more than one WHS obligation.
This Manual concentrates on the WHS obligations of
employers and workers.
A person conducting a business or undertaking
(referred to in this Manual as an agency) has an
obligation to ensure the WHS of their workers and
any other persons is not affected by the conduct
of the business or undertaking. The obligation is
discharged if each of the employer’s workers and any
other persons are not exposed to risks to their health
and safety arising out of the conduct of the business
or undertaking.
Discharging this obligation includes but is not
limited to:
• providing and maintaining a safe and healthy
work environment
• ensuring safe systems of work
• providing information, instruction, training and
supervision to ensure health and safety.
A person in control of a workplace (which includes
a vehicle used for the performance of work) has
obligations which include ensuring the risk of injury
or illness is minimised for persons coming into the
workplace to work.
Where there is no regulation or other formal notice
prescribing the way to prevent or minimise exposure
to a risk, an employer discharges their WHS
obligation for exposure to the risk by both:
• adopting and following any way to discharge their
WHS obligation for exposure to the risk
• taking reasonable precautions, and exercising
proper diligence, to ensure the obligation is
discharged.
To properly manage exposure to risks, an employer
must take five actions:
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
identify any hazards
assess risks that may result because of the
hazards
decide on appropriate control measures to
prevent, or minimise the level of the risks
implement control measures
monitor and review the effectiveness of the
measures.
Applied to work-related driving, the obligations of
an employer may include providing their employees
with information about:
• safety features of vehicles and instruction on how
to use them
• the causes and effects of fatigue
• the safe use of the vehicle
• safe maintenance of the vehicle.
The specific requirements of the road safety laws
also have to be met and they cover matters such as
vehicle roadworthiness, driver licensing and road
rules.
These requirements would be supported in an
employer’s WHS program by:
• procuring and maintaining a safe and roadworthy
fleet
• ensuring employees have the appropriate driver
licences
• scheduling work to account for speed limits and
managing fatigue
• providing appropriate information and training on
work-related driving safety
• monitoring and supervision of the work-related
driving safety program.
10 See the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 and the
Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008.
Road Safety Manual
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