ALRTA Weekly Update: August 22

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We have to have a Safety Management System.... right?

By Belinda Hughes, Hughes Law Pty Ltd

In recent years, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (“NHVR”) has clearly increased its focus on Safety Management Systems (“SMS”) as a key tool for demonstrating compliance with duties under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (“HVNL”). While there is no direct legislative requirement that a business must have a SMS there is a legislated duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of transport activities.

This duty sits at the heart of section 26C of the HVNL.

Understanding how this duty applies to your business, no matter how large or small, is the first step toward building a simple but effective SMS. In fact, most businesses are already managing safety in some way. The key is to codify those practices, document them, and show how they are part of a system to manage risk.

What Is Section 26C of the HVNL?
Section 26C of the HVNL imposes a primary duty on every party in the Chain of Responsibility (“CoR”), including operators, employers, consignors, consignees, schedulers, loaders and others. This duty requires that all parties ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of their transport activities.

Critically, section 26C is risk-based. It does not prescribe a fixed set of actions, but instead expects each
business to understand:
● What transport activities they are involved in
● What the risks associated with those activities are
● And how those risks are managed or controlled

This framework mirrors the general principles of risk management in occupational health and safety law,
and it’s where the idea of a SMS comes into play.

What Is a Safety Management System “SMS”?
A SMS is a structured, documented framework used to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement controls in an ongoing and proactive manner. It is often described in terms of policies, procedures, checklists, training, and performance monitoring tools that together help an organisation achieve safer operations.

Importantly, the HVNL does not legislate that you must have a formal SMS. However, the NHVR strongly encourages businesses to adopt one, because it is the most effective way to demonstrate compliance with section 26C and other CoR obligations.
Whether your business has five vehicles or five hundred, having a clear framework that explains how you manage the safety of your transport activities is essential.

Why the NHVR is focusing on SMS’s?
The NHVR has produced detailed guidance materials outlining what an effective SMS looks like. Their view is clear: if you are responsible for transport activities, you should have a system that identifies your risks and shows how you manage them. Their '9 Step SMS Roadmap' and supporting tools are not mandatory, but they reflect best practice in the industry. They are increasingly used as a benchmark in investigations and audits.

For businesses subject to inspection, prosecution, or enforcement, the question is often put simply:
“What is your system for managing the safety of your transport activities?” A written SMS, even if simple, provides a ready answer to that question.

Where to start?
For many businesses, the idea of an SMS sounds formal or resource-intensive. In practice, though, you're likely already doing many of the right things.

For example:
● Calling drivers during the day to check on fatigue or delays;
● Inspecting vehicles or checking logbooks;
● Using pre-start checklists or phone apps;
● Not allowing loads to leave without the right restraint checks;
● Keeping written or mental records of who’s been inducted and trained.

These activities are all part of a safety management system. The missing piece is writing them down, organising them into a simple structure, and being able to show your system to an Inspector or Regulator if asked.
Even informal practices, like regular phone check-ins with a driver, can form part of your system if they’re intentional, documented, and repeatable.

What is the minimum level of a SMS?
One of the most critical, and legally necessary, elements of managing safety under section 26C is to
conduct a risk assessment.
This means you need to:
1. Identify the tasks or activities involved in your transport operations;
2. List the potential risks (fatigue, unsecured loads, speeding, mechanical failure, etc.);
3. Determine how likely and serious those risks are;
4. Implement controls (fatigue management procedures, speed monitoring, maintenance schedules);
5. Review and update those controls regularly.

Doing this doesn’t require a consultant or a complex process. What matters is that it is thoughtful,
documented, and reflects what is actually happening in your business.

I am just a small operator?
The NHVR has acknowledged that the formality and complexity of your SMS should reflect the size and risk profile of your operation. A national logistics company may have formal dashboards, compliance software, and dedicated safety teams. A smaller operator might use a folder of checklists, a maintenance log, and verbal driver briefings.

What matters is not how sophisticated your system is, but whether it works. You must be able to explain how you meet your safety duties, and provide evidence that shows your risks are being actively managed.
A word of warning, do not use a “shelf system” that is a system you purchase, place on the bookshelf and never refer to again. All that does is create an opportunity for the Regulator to review and highlight the gaps between what you said you would do and what you are actually doing.

Final Thoughts
The best way to meet your duty under the HVNL and to demonstrate that you are doing so is to adopt a simple, fit-for-purpose Safety Management System. Start with what you’re already doing. Write it down.

Review it regularly. And make sure it’s clear to your staff, contractors, and the NHVR if they ever come
knocking.

This advice should be considered as general guidance. Each case may present differences that impact this advice. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Upcoming Training: Saleyards Animal Welfare Essentials

Saleyards Australia
is delivering essential Animal Welfare for Saleyards training this September and October in:
📍 Bendigo, VIC | 2 September 2025
📍 Gunnedah, NSW | 10 September 2025
📍 Muchea, WA | 24 September 2025
📍 Emerald, QLD | 17 October 2025

This course is designed for anyone working in saleyards – managers, staff, contractors, agents, transporters, and drovers – and blends online learning with a one-day, hands-on session led by AUS-MEAT trainers.

Course highlights include:

• Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines
• Saleyard procedures for receival and dispatch
• Managing animal flow, stress, and injury impacts
• NLIS and lot identification for traceability
• Workplace safety and PPE use
• Feed and water requirements
• SOPs for handling animals
• Emergency slaughter/euthanasia procedures
• Meeting customer and community expectations

Until next week, stay safe. 

Anthony
Together, we are stronger.

Save the dates for 2025

• LRTAWA State Conference.  22-23 August, 2025. The Vines Resort, Swan Valley - MORE INFO HERE

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