A safe and secure place to work

Chain of Responsibility

This set of laws effects all the organisations in a supply chain that use vehicles that weigh over 4.5 tonnes.

The Chain of Responsibility legislation aims to ensure that everyone - from the boardroom to dispatchers to partners and contractors - proactively follows and maintains their on-and-off-road compliance and safe-operating obligations to every load of every vehicle. Every time.

Under the legislation there are penalties for companies and individuals within the supply chain that fail to take adequate precautions to prevent any foreseeable risk, including significant fines and even jail time.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to)

• Assessing and clearly identifying the responsibilities of all parties in a supply chain
• Installing systems to manage fatigue
• Maintaining equipment
• Checking vehicle dimensions and weights
• Including compliance and assurance conditions in commercial arrangements
• Seeking legal advice on Chain of Responsibility obligations

Chain of Responsibility also pertains to

• Adopting better freight-moving practices
• Establishing and adhering to, safe policies, procedures, and workplace practices
• Ensuring proper packing, placing, and securing of loads
• Adopting safer loading and unloading procedures
• Ensuring vehicles do not speed
• Training staff and partners on their Chain of Responsibility obligations

The CM3 safety management solution

Coles Collect manages our network of carrier partners through the CM3 Safety Management and Pre-Qualification Program.

Through the program, external assessors audit each contractor's safety, risk, and liability systems to ensure they follow the right level of governance requirements.

While participating in our tender process, each potential carrier partner needs to complete a safety questionnaire that allows us to assess if they have a satisfactory safety management system in place.

The program also shows that they have all the relevant public liability insurance, workers compensation certification, industry accreditation documents (such as NHVAS certificates), and more before progressing to the next selection stage process.