Consignor charged with safety breaches in Australian first

The consignor of 26 tonnes of imported plywood has been charged with contravening the WHS-style chain-of-responsibility provisions of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, after a truck carrying the products in a shipping container rolled over onto a pedestrian island on a Dandenong, Victoria road.

The Victorian company faces a maximum penalty of a least $2 million, if found guilty, with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator accusing it of multiple category 2 and category-3 breaches of its primary safety duty as a consignor.

It is the first consignor to be prosecuted by the NHVR since the HVNL was amended, in late 2018, to impose proactive safety duties on all supply chain parties (see related article).

The regulator, which declines to name defendants, alleges that at the time of the November 2019 crash, in which no one was injured, the company failed to: comply with loading and restraint requirements; advise its overseas supplier of Australian safety regulations; ensure a restraint system was in place inside the shipping container; or advise the driver and operator how the load was packed.

Significantly, the consignor was allegedly guilty of the same failings in relation to 189 shipping containers transported since June 2017.

The company exposed drivers, unloaders and members of the public to the risk of death or serious injury, the NHVR alleges.

“[The crash] was a serious incident that the NHVR will allege was caused by multiple breaches of safety laws,” NHVR statutory compliance executive director Ray Hassall said.

https://www.ohsalert.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&stream=2&selkey=56513&hlc=2&hlw=

Originally posted on OHS Alert