Chapter 40.5: Investigating Occupational Incidents and Crashes
Abstract
Heavy vehicle transport is essential to Australia’s supply chains but remains a high-risk sector with fatality rates well above the national average. This chapter examines heavy vehicle operations through a socio-technical lens, arguing that safety outcomes are shaped not only by driver behaviour but by organisational practices, supply-chain pressures, regulatory arrangements, and economic settings. It outlines the multiple and overlapping legislative frameworks, highlighting the implications for cross-border transport providers.
The chapter discusses how remuneration systems, scheduling, cultural expectations, and governance structures influence compliance. It identifies critical components of effective safety management systems with consideration is given to psychosocial health, chronic disease burden, fatigue risks, and barriers to adequate rest. The chapter reinforces that system-wide interventions, supported by policy, organisational controls, and industry advocacy are required to manage risk and support safe and sustainable heavy vehicle operations.
Keywords:
heavy vehicles, road transport, safety management systems, Chain of Responsibility, fatigue, psychosocial health, driver wellbeing, legislation, socio-technical systems, Australia
First year of publication: 2026
Chapter 40.2: Heavy Vehicle Operations and Safety
Table of contents
| 1 | Introduction |
| 1.1 | Purpose |
| 1.2 | Scope |
| 1.3 | Acronyms |
| 1.4 | Definitions |
| 2 | Heavy Vehicle Transport Industry (HVTI) |
| 3 | Legislation |
| 3.1 | Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) |
| 3.2 | Western Australia’s Legislation |
| 3.4 | Northern Territory |
| 3.5 | Who are the Parties in the Heavy Vehicle Transport System |
| 3.6 | Heavy Vehicle Definitions, Classes and Licence |
| 3.6.1 | General Access Vehicles |
| 3.6.2 | Restricted Access Vehicles |
| 3.6.3 | Licensing |
| 3.6.4 | Drivers Licence |
| 3.6.5 | International Drivers |
| 3.7 | Driver |
| 3.8 | Implications of legislative frameworks |
| 4 | Economic and Organisational Influences on Driver Behaviour |
| 4.1 | System Drivers |
| 4.2 | Organisational Factors |
| 4.3 | Driver Pressures |
| 4.4 | Behavioural Outcomes |
| 4.5 | Safety and System Impacts |
| 5 | The Role of Industry Advocacy in Heavy Vehicle Safety |
| 5.1 | Partnership and the Role of Insurance Stakeholders |
| 5.2 | Alignment with Socio-Technical and Safety Systems Thinking |
| 5.3 | Collaborative Governance and Systemic Improvement |
| 6 | Aligning to the Pillars of Road Safety |
| 6.1 | Heavy Vehicle Transport System Shared Responsibilities |
| 7 | Safety Management System Approach |
| 7.1 | Risk Management & Verification |
| 7.2 | Auditing & Compliance |
| 7.2.1 | Internal Audits |
| 7.2.2 | External Audits |
| 7.2.3 | Accreditation |
| 7.3 | Reducing Audit Burden Through Audit Recognition |
| 7.3.1 | Fitness for Duty |
| 7.4 | Fitness for Duty – Responsibilities |
| 7.4.1 | Medical Assessments |
| 7.4.1.1 | Pre-employment Medical Assessments |
| 7.4.2 | Commercial Drivers Medical Assessments (CDMS) |
| 7.5 | Drivers and their Health & Well Being |
| 7.5.1 | Psychosocial Health |
| 7.5.2 | Managing Drivers’ Psychosocial Health |
| 7.5.3 | Chronic Disease Risks |
| 7.5.4 | Diet and Exercise |
| 7.6 | Fatigue Management |
| 7.6.1 | Sleep and Occupational Barriers |
| 7.7 | Mobile Device Management |
| 7.8 | Distraction Management |
| 7.9 | Drug and Alcohol Testing |
| 7.10 | Speed Management |
| 7.11 | Mass, Dimension, Load Restraint |
| 7.12 | Vehicle Maintenance |
| 7.13 | Event Investigations |
| 7.13.1 | Importance of Blame-Free Investigations |
| 7.13.2 | Identifying Contributing and Underlying Causes |
| 7.13.3 | Embedding Lessons Learned and Corrective Actions |
| 7.14 | Technologies and Telematics Integration |
| 7.14.1 | Organisational Implementation of In-Vehicle Safety Technologies |
| 7.14.2 | Specialised Detection and Vehicle-Based Safety Systems |
| 7.14.3 | Integration of Advanced Vehicle Safety Technologies |
| 7.14.4 | Maintenance, Monitoring, and Continuous Assurance |
| 7.14.5 | Policy, Governance, and Driver Engagement |
| 7.15 | Recruitment |
| 7.16 | Job Descriptions |
| 7.17 | Organisational Culture |
| 8 | Data Analysis to Reduce Risk |
| 8.1 | Continuous Data Review and Organisational Learning |
| 8.2 | Data-Driven Risk Identification and Hot-Spotting |
| 8.3 | Integrating Analysis into Safety Management Systems |
| 9 | Summary |
| 10 | Resources |
| 11 | References |
| Appendix A: | Integration of Heavy Vehicle Management System Elements within ISO 45001:2018 |
Scott Govers AssocDeg PolicePrac, BPolicing, GradCert Fraud&FinCrime, AdvDip PoliceInv, Cert IV WHS
HSE Business Partner, Transgrid
Scott is a WHS professional with an extensive background in law enforcement, specialising in major crash investigation as a member of the Crash Investigation Unit. He provides subject matter expertise for vehicle use and vehicle-related incidents focusing on root cause analysis and corrective action. He has also provided incident investigation training and support for other WHS professionals. He has been instrumental in leading procedural review and implementation relating to vehicle use and safe driving practices. His contemporary and operational experience in vehicle incident investigation complement his tertiary and further studies in vehicle use, investigation and legislative interpretation.
Dr Ivan Cikara PhD, MOSH, MBA, AdvDipPublicSafety(Investigations)
Ivan has an extensive background in investigations spanning policing, where he specialised in investigations of
fatal crashes as a member of the Homicide Squad, and as a specialist investigator for the Public Transport
Authority. He has held executive positions in Federal Government and in general management, and group safety
roles in the transport, mining, and oil and gas sectors. Ivan completed his PhD in systemic investigations of heavy
vehicle crashes and has a number of peer-reviewed publications.
Peer reviewer
Name, Credentials
Company
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