Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL Queensland), section 26C, each party in the CoR and their executives have a primary duty “to ensure the safety of transport activities, so far as is reasonably practicable.”

This duty remains with the parties to the CoR and their managers even when their transport activities are contracted or subcontracted to another party.

In particular, the company’s managers party to the CoR have a separate duty to ‘exercise due diligence to ensure that the company complies with its primary duty.’

As mental health considerations are extrinsically linked to ensuring the safety of a business’ transport activities, the advice lists some of the main psychological risks that can exist in the heavy vehicle industry, including unreasonable working hours and time pressures, job insecurity, lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, insufficient sleep or drug taking, isolation, and loneliness. 

All these psychological risks and many others are likely to lead to mental health problems and conditions in the workplace.

The advice provides practical steps for CoR parties, drivers, and other workers to tackle and improve mental health and well-being in the workplace.

Parties in the CoR should consider implementing policies and procedures to assess and manage psychological hazards, encouraging systems where employees feel safe to raise psychological risks at work.

The Regulator suggests providing opportunities to access a mental health professional and mental health leave to ensure drivers and workers are not subjected to unreasonable/excessive work demands and pressures and make welfare calls to drivers. At the same time, they are on the road, follow up meetings with drivers when unusual trends are detected in their on-road behaviour, and encourage drivers and other workers to take rest and exercise breaks as needed.

Employers should take these suggestions into account and implement them in their company policies and regulations, also considering the risk associated with the non-implementation of their duties about ensuring the safety of workers, sanctioned by education and improvement notices up to and including criminal prosecution.