New changes to Heavy Vehicle National Laws (HNVL) for heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass were be adopted in late 2018. This means a greater onus on occupational health and safety checks and a commitment to safety across the chain of responsibility in the business.
One of the recommendations to those conducting heavy vehicle checks is to develop a Safety Management System (SMS) including controls, safety policy and documentation. It is thus important to investigate available technologies to automate the safety and maintenance process. This can ensure that all regulatory requirements are adhered to and safety inspection reports are safely stored and readily accessible, within the SMS.
A Safety Management System is vital for companies operating heavy vehicles in Australia. The safety of heavy vehicles, employees and the broader community all depend on ongoing, rigorous pre start checks, safety inspections and regular maintenance. For organisations and operations with heavy vehicles, the need for high-end successful monitoring of conditions is a 24-hour, 365-day job. For example: Pre-start inspection is a fundamental part of operating of heavy vehicles and should be carried out before each trip, journey or operation. It is not only the responsibility of both the driver and owner to conduct pre start checks, but also an important record of condition and maintenance. It is therefore important to have the best management tool and checklist available.
Electronic paperless inspection applications on mobile devices can also include validations that allow or disallow data entry. This is done alongside, providing the user with historical information pertaining to previous inspections, maintenance, pre start checks findings. Paperless/electronic inspection applications should be designed to minimise the amount of data entry and keystrokes required by the inspector/operator by incorporating techniques, ranging from pick lists, check boxes, look-up lists, use of camera or voice recorder, and automatically generated results.
