Fatal crash near Dubbo attributed to truck driver fatigue

A Police audit of trucking company, Redstar Transport, has so far revealed issues with insecure loads and driver fatigue. 
The investigations follow an earlier road collision incident involving one of the company’s B-doubles and a car, where two boys, aged nine and twelve, died.
Officers have been working with Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) as part of an investigation relating to safety breaches at Redstar depots at Yennora in Sydney and in Dubbo.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said all the trucks initially inspected had load issues.
One driver was issued with a field court attendance notice in relation to logbook entries.
"What we need to remember here is there were two children killed in a car accident in the early hours of the morning involving the B-double," Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
"As a result of all fatal accidents involving trucks, we make sure that those companies involved have the right governance around operations."
The Assistant Commissioner said police were not impressed with the safety issues.
"We are very disappointed," he said.
"The company has been compliant with us, they have been working with us. But to have the amount of issues we have had with all the trucks and drivers this morning has been very disappointing."
Assistant Commissioner Corboy said the audit will help reduce and prevent similar incidents from happening on the nation's roads.
Don’t risk your trucking business’ reputation and costly penalties. We help businesses comply with workplace safety laws. Contact ISOsafe today on 1300 789 132.
 

Fatigue Management: Court awards $1.25M to Queensland coal miner after crash on drive home

A Queensland coal miner has been awarded more than $1 million in damages in a case that has been tipped to change the way mining corporations deal with fatigue in the workplace

The worker suffered brain damage as a result of the crash and has no recollection of the accident or events leading up to it, according to supreme court files

In a judgement handed down by the court, the mining business enterprise BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), contractor HMP and the labour lease agency Axial did not do enough to manage the workers fatigue

Throughout the hearing, defence legal professionals argued the worker was partly responsible for the crash

The defence lawyers said BMA provided accommodation on the mine site for employees to rest after a 12-hour shift

But the court heard the worker had made the decision to go home, irrespective of how he felt

The worker's barrister stated his client might not have been privy to the extent of his fatigue

The court awarded the overall claim of $1.25 million

"Perhaps many people would be wary of attempting a five-hour drive after completing a fourth consecutive 12-hour night shift. But the statistics … support that this was commonplace among mine workers," the magistrate said in a Supreme Court of Queensland document

"The 2008 study showed that 81 per cent of mine workers drove alone in their cars after finishing their roster"

In the course of the civil trial in July, professor Drew Dawson from CQ University gave evidence about the difficulties for mining companies in drawing up regulations to control fatigue-related crashes

Professor Dawson told the court that since a parliamentary inquiry in 2001, mining companies had attempted to codify and regulate solutions

But he said those rules would often not take into account real-life situations and the latest scientific knowledge

After court, CFMEU Mining and Energy Division president Steve Smyth described the case as a "landmark decision" which could change the way mining companies manage fatigue

"The mines have been having incidents when workers have dozed off, micro-sleeps, but this is a landmark decision because the Supreme Court's actually made a decision and ruled on it and it's going to have the ripple effect and other effects through the industry now," he said

"Industry is going to have to get their heads together and work out how they deal with it, not give it lip service, but give it the appropriate vigilance it requires to get it right"

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