Driver competency is one of those issues that many of our customers have questions about, some of the questions include:

- How much training / assessment should we do?

- When do we need to do it?

- Do we need refresher training?

We see at one end of the spectrum some businesses simply hand over the keys to a new driver. At the other end they employ dedicated driver trainers and have multi week induction and “buddy up” periods. Which are then followed by a verification of competency (VoC) assessment before the drivers are allowed to drive / work by themselves.

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Along the spectrum we see company owners, managers, allocators or other drivers undertaking competency assessments. Other business engages external qualified trainers / assessors.

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We see a variety of record keeping processes (or lack of), costs and safety outcomes for the businesses.

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But they have a licence; they should know how to drive….

Considering that you can go from a car licence (less than 4.5 tonnes) to a heavy rigid licence (in practice up to nearly 30 tonnes) in 1 day having never driven a heavy vehicle before you can see that being able to drive the vehicle (start / stop / turn corners etc.) is not the same as understanding how to drive the vehicle safely / defensively and avoid accidents or dangerous situations which many believe only comes from experience rather than training and assessment.

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But they have been driving for 20 years……

Even experienced drivers don’t always understand the risks associated with their behaviours, or may have become complacent to the risks even though the business and the community expects a high level of competency and alertness from them.

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Take for example the comments in a Supreme Court ruling from October 2020 which highlights that heavy vehicle drivers are expected to understand the dangers of driving the vehicle and need to be careful and vigilant: 

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As an experienced driver of heavy vehicles, the offender would have been well aware of the inherent qualities of the vehicle he was driving. 

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He would have known that driving such a vehicle at speed (albeit within the speed limit for the motorway in question) requires a high degree of concentration because of the difficulty in regaining control should control be lost and because of the catastrophic consequences a loss of control could have.

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Knowing the concentration required to maintain control of his vehicle, the conscious and deliberate decision the offender made to take his eyes off the road for a time coupled with removing his hands completely from the steering wheel if only for a moment before using the edge of his right hand to steer the truck in order to retrieve a drink was conduct that was objectively very dangerous and carried with it real risks to the safety of others travelling on the motorway. 

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Tragically, some of those risks materialised but would have been avoided entirely had the offender not acted as he did.

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From the same case in relation to the driver’s driving history

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I accept that as a professional driver the offender is frequently on the roads which it might be argued increases the chance of the commission of a driving offence. However his occupation as a driver of heavy vehicles imposes an increased need for care and vigilance because of the consequences such a vehicle can have if driven dangerously.

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Clearly the community would expect that drivers have their hands on the steering wheel and attention on the road, especially when driving heavy vehicles due to the size and mass of the vehicle.

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But we can’t control what the driver does on the road….

A business does have control and influence over its business practices and decision making about the use of a vehicle on the road including the training and supervision of drivers and this is recognised in safety legislation such as the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and Work Health and Safety Act.

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The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has published the “Regulatory Advice - Managing the risks of undertrained workers” which says:

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Drivers and other workers have a role to play in participating in training. However, the onus is on CoR parties and their executives to ensure workers are adequately trained with the necessary skills to undertake tasks safely.

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At a minimum, CoR parties should undertake a risk assessment to consider the risks associated with insufficient or inadequately trained workers and how to mitigate those risks. Executives should endorse or approve a final risk assessment.  

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Executives of business that are a party in the CoR have a distinct duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the business complies with its primary duty. Executives must also ensure sufficient financial, human and other resources are available to the business to implement training effectively. 

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They should also actively invest in monitoring tasks to assess the ongoing effectiveness of training and promote continuous improvement of safe business practices.

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From the Work Health and Safety Act (NSW) section 19:

19 Primary duty of care

3)  Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable

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(f)  the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety arising from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking

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Okay, so what do I need to do….

As it says in the regulatory advice you need to understand the risks associated with your business and then do what is reasonably practicable to manage those risks.

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Some businesses may choose to start undertaking driving assessments and documenting the outcomes, on a form such as the one on the National Transport Insurance website (LINK) where they also have an induction checklist (LINK).

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Other businesses may choose to have an independent, qualified person undertake assessments on their drivers to help identify risky behaviours and provide training to the drivers on correcting those behaviours as well as providing a report back to management so that they can understand the risks better.

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You even can opt to undertake Nationally Recognised Training (NRT) units of competency delivered by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) such as:

• TLIC0033 - Apply low risk heavy vehicle driving behaviours (LINK)
• TLIF0078 - Recognise motor vehicle road crash risks and post-crash actions (LINK)

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Heavy vehicle driver competency is important

Ensuring that your drivers have the skills, knowledge and resources to do their job safely and efficiently is important for their safety, the safety of the community. Getting it right will protect your business as well.

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