2011 Annual Report - National Transport Commission

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Meeting our objectives Providing a safe transport system Case study: Genesee & Wyoming Australia welcome move to National Rail Safety Law Photo courtesy of The Advertiser Genesee & Wyoming Australia is an accredited rail service provider in six Australian states, owning nearly 5,000 kilometres of track in South Australia and the Northern Territory including the 2,200 kilometre Tarcoola-to-Darwin railway. It has more than 350 employees, and has 70 locomotives with 950 active carriages providing haulage of bulk commodities such as grain, iron ore, gypsum and minerals. Moving to a single National Rail Safety Regulator and single National Rail Safety Law is a welcome shift for Genesee & Wyoming Australia. ‘Up until now we’ve had to contend with six different rail safety regulators, each administering their own rail safety laws and each in their own different ways’, says Managing Director Mr Bert Easthope. ‘Even the National Model Legislation failed to deliver true consistency in this regard. ‘Bringing this under one regulator with a common set of laws applied consistently across Australia will be good for safety and good for business. ‘For us, we expect this will mean significant productivity benefits and cost savings, as we’ll no longer have to manage compliance with multiple rail safety regulatory systems. ‘Ultimately we see this reform as being about improving safety, as it shifts the focus from red tape to allowing us to concentrate on implementing best practice across all of our operations.’ 24 NTC Annual Report 2010–11 National Rail Safety Regulator on track Australia currently has seven rail safety regulators across eight states and territories, all with their own rail safety laws. In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to establish a National Rail Safety Regulator to modernise Australia’s rail safety regulatory system, as part of a suite of reforms to enhance the productivity, safety and sustainability of our transport industry. The national regulator will: • administer, audit and review the accreditation of rail transport operators under national legislation • work with rail transport operators, rail safety workers and others involved in railway operations to improve rail safety in Australia • research, collect and publish information relating to rail safety • provide, or facilitate the provision of, advice, education and training in relation to rail safety • monitor, inspect, investigate and enforce compliance with the national legislation. The NTC is playing a pivotal role in this project. It has been consulting with industry, governments and unions in developing the national legislation that the regulator will administer, and an accompanying RIS. The national legislation will be based on the Model Rail Safety Bill and national Model Rail Safety Regulations, both introduced in 2006 and implemented by states and territories. Some states and territories have deviated from the model law. Complying with inconsistent laws presents a challenge to rail transport operators, particularly those who conduct railway operations in more than one state. The proposed law will remove these inconsistencies and share best practice in safety across the country. During the year, the NTC made significant progress towards reaching agreement with stakeholders on the proposed law. The NTC is on track to release the Draft Rail Safety Regulator Law Regulatory Impact Statement and Draft Rail Safety National Law for public consultation on 18 July 2011. A project board and project office have been established to oversee the implementation of the regulator. The board comprises representatives from each state and territory and from the Commonwealth. It is chaired by Reece Waldock, Director-General, Department of Transport, Western Australia. An advisory committee made up of government, industry and union representatives has provided ongoing advice and feedback. The regulator will be based in Adelaide, with branch offices in states that currently have a rail safety regulator office. The regulator will become operational in January 2013.
Sharing best practice fatigue management Fatigue continues to be one of the biggest causes of death and serious injury in the Australian transport industry. To stimulate debate about fatigue management and share best practice techniques, the NTC sponsored Professor Richard Hanowski, a leading international fatigue expert, to visit Australia as part of the 8th International Conference on Managing Fatigue in Transportation, Resources and Health held in Fremantle in March 2011. Professor Hanowski is the Director of the Center for Truck & Bus Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in the United States. He has been involved in transportation research since 1991 and has led many light vehicle and heavy vehicle safety studies for government and industry. Professor Hanowski presented a paper at the conference, and also participated in a series of NTC roundtables in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane to share his research more broadly. The roundtables featured a thoughtprovoking presentation, supported by video footage on the US experience of fatigue management. Professor Hanowski also presented an overview of: • observational driving research related to fatigue and distracted driving • the impact that naturalistic driving research has had on driver education, policy and driver–vehicle interface design • ongoing and planned US-based naturalistic driving studies. The roundtables were well attended, attracting senior executives from industry, government, unions and academia. NTC Chairman Greg Martin also hosted a panel session during the Fremantle conference to highlight the importance of a national approach to managing fatigue in road and rail. The panel challenged audience members to consider the similarities and differences in managing fatigue across both modes and whether there is any knowledge that can be shared. Panellists included: • Professor Drew Dawson, Director, Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia • Dr Tim Kuypers, Group General Manager Safety, Asciano • Steve Shearer, Executive Director, SA Road Transport Association • David Anderson, Chair of the Performance Based Standards Review Panel and member of two independent fatigue expert panels. Ministers approve national smart technology strategy The widespread uptake of technology in the road freight industry could improve road safety, reduce transport costs and cut emissions. To facilitate wider uptake of smart technologies and give industry the confidence it needs to invest in these devices, in June 2010 the NTC released the Draft national in-vehicle telematics strategy: The road freight sector 2010-2030 for public consultation. The strategy was prepared in consultation with stakeholders and is designed to provide a clear and consistent policy for technology use. It also aligns with the ATC’s national transport policy objectives. Following the release of the draft strategy, the NTC, throughout June and July 2010, sought additional feedback from industry and governments. Following the conclusion of the consultation period, the NTC refined the strategy and provided it to the ATC, where it was approved by unanimous vote in May 2011. The NTC also finalised a policy paper titled Electronic systems for heavy vehicle driver fatigue and speed compliance, which was also approved unanimously by ministers at the same meeting. The paper complements Austroads’ technical report titled Performance-based specification for electronic work diary and heavy vehicle speed monitoring. The ATC requested that a policy paper be developed due to the need for a recognised standard for the operation of an electronic work diary. The policy paper provides a basis for the conduct of an on-road pilot of electronic work diaries by the NSW Roads & Traffic Authority, which will identify the best way forward for industry and regulators to allow the voluntary use of electronic work diaries to monitor heavy vehicle work and rest hours. It also addresses the use of technology to monitor speed compliance. The NTC is working with the New South Wales-led pilot of electronic work diaries. The planning stage involved recruiting and training participants, and evaluating processes and priorities. On road operations will commence in July 2011, with the pilot to be conducted over the following two years. It aims to understand essential and optional requirements with the technology. NTC Annual Report 2010–11 25
Page 1 and 2: National Transport Commission Annua
Page 3 and 4: National Transport Commission Annua
Page 5 and 6: Chairman’s report Creating a simp
Page 7 and 8: Chief Executive’s report Deliveri
Page 9 and 10: National Ports Strategy to protect
Page 11 and 12: Moving towards outcomes-based perfo
Page 13 and 14: Environmental outcomes Rising green
Page 15 and 16: Standing Committee on Transport and
Page 17 and 18: Meeting our objectives Improving tr
Page 19 and 20: Over 750 stakeholders attended the
Page 21 and 22: The key findings were: • In most
Page 23 and 24: Improved freight rail investment po
Page 25: Meeting our objectives Providing a
Page 29 and 30: United Nations Decade of Action for
Page 31 and 32: Future outlook Some of the key init
Page 33 and 34: Contributing to the debate on natio
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Page 37 and 38: Queensland: • progressed (as host
Page 39 and 40: Victoria: • issued the first High
Page 41 and 42: Australian Transport Council Member
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Page 45 and 46: Occupational health and safety The
Page 47 and 48: Corporate governance Mr Nick Dimopo
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Page 59 and 60: National transport Commission Sched
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National transport Commission Notes
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Appendix D: Report under the Enviro
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Table 2 2010-11 Road construction a
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Appendix F: Reports released during
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On-board mass technology On-board m
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green initiatives See environmental
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Compliance index The table below sh
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Level 15/628 Bourke Street MELBOURN
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2011 Annual Report - National Transport Commission

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