Tasmania’s Fatigue Laws to Change as of 30 March 2015
As of 30 March 2015, national fatigue management law will apply in Tasmania. For now the Tasmanian rules for driving hours record and work diaries will remain in place but as of 30 March this year, national fatigue management laws will come into effect.
Fatigue provisions of the Heavy Vehicle National Law will commence in Tasmania soon and according to a post on the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s website, the NHVR and the Department of State Growth will be working together to ensure that operators and drivers in the State are ready for the changes.
The changes will include introduction of the National Driver’s Work Diary, record keeping requirements and changes to work and rest hours.
On their website, the Department of State Growth said that they would be working to help the industry ready itself for the change,
The Department of State Growth will work with industry to help prepare for national fatigue management law to be implemented from 30 March 2015.
Who will be Affected?
The NHVR says the national law will cover “fatigue regulated heavy vehicles” that are:
vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of over 12t
combinations when the total of the GVM is over 12t
buses over 4.5t GVM with a seating capacity of more than 12 adults (including the driver)
a truck or a combination including a truck, with a GVM of over 12t with a machine or implement attached to it.
Source: https://www.nhvr.gov.au
Drivers must ensure that if they purchase a new national work diary, they complete it according to current Tasmanian legislation and not the new national law until 30 March, unless they are driving interstate.
According to an article on PrimeMoverMag.com.au the new fatigue provisions were meant to be implemented six months after the introduction of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) in Tasmania which would have meant it came into effect on 10 February 2014. This did not occur because of issues with the new access system. The following excerpt from a post on PrimeMoverMag.com.au explains: `
However, due to a number of major issues with the new access system developed by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), full consideration of the implementation of the fatigue provisions under the HVNL has not been possible to date.
Source: http://www.primemovermag.com.au
If you are a driver or operator in Tasmania or operating on Tasmanian roads and may be affected by the changes, you can get more information by attending industry information sessions held by the NHVR.
These sessions will explain how the changes will affect all industry sections. Some of the information covered by the sessions includes work and rest hours, completing a work diary, keeping records for drivers, flexible work arrangements such as Basic Fatigue Management and Advanced Fatigue Management as well as information of Chain of Responsibility. There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
Information sessions will be held in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie on the 11th ,12th and 13th March 2015. More information can be obtained from the NHVR’s website https://www.nhvr.gov.au.
To learn more about fatigue management, and how CoR Australia can help, click here.
