Chain of Responsibility

Chain of Responsibility :

• In varying forms, has been in existence for 20 years

• Concerns itself with those activities that influence, affect or control transport safety on road

• Acknowledges unlawful behaviour is often influenced & controlled by the actions of other parties

• Recognises impact of off-road parties in the transport chain, where the core business is not directly transport related

• Aims to attribute legal accountability for transport safety

• Focuses on business practices and contractual arrangements

• Advocates a risk based approach to assessing transport safety

And with the alignment to Safety Legislation, now introduces specific Safety Duties

• Primary Duty - Each party in the chain of responsibility for a heavy vehicle must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of the party’s transport activities relating to the vehicle

• Duty of Executive of Legal Entity - an executive of the legal entity must exercise due diligence to ensure the legal entity complies with their primary duty

• Prohibited Requests and Contracts - A person must not ask, direct or require (directly or indirectly), or contract the driver of a heavy vehicle or a party in the chain of responsibility to do or not do something the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, would have the effect of causing the driver to breach the law