Heavy Haulage
Posted on behalf of a HARMfree member
Hi there,
I am trying to establish the correct systems we need to have in place to provide a safe and efficient transport service that complies with industry and health and safety standards.
Our trucking business provides transport services for overweight and over-dimension mobile plant as used in the construction, roading, agriculture and logging industries.
We fall under the Land Transport legislation and must comply with NZTA rules and regulations, i.e., VDAM. Regarding health and safety, we follow the requirements of NZTA and WorkSafe. However, we have overlapping duties with other industries.
As I understand it, any construction site needs to have a permit before any work can take place and part of that permit addresses traffic management including going on and off site. Then contractors and sub-contractors become part of the site, and all people have to comply with the health and safety requirements whether it is an induction or a pre-qualification process. They all work there on a day-to-day basis, share the work environment and all hazards and procedures then come under the one umbrella of the construction site.
We do not work on-site on a day-to-day basis, our main environment is the road with different hazards and procedures. We instruct all drivers to follow the health and safety rules relating to whatever site they are on, but many of the sites we enter do not have traffic management or a safe place for us to be away from other site activities for safe loading/unloading. We are constantly receiving pre-qualification forms to complete even though a good majority of the questions do not relate to the service we provide, we enter to load/unload then leave which usually takes no longer than 30 minutes. It seems we have to meet site requirements that do not relate to us, yet they do not meet our requirements when on their site.
However, before we open that can of worms, we must assess whether we are a subcontractor or service provider. Please would you send me, or direct me to, any information that will provide the reasoning and actual place we sit in relation to the grand scheme of things?
Thank you for your time.
Hi ,
Most construction sites will require your drivers to hold a current SiteSafe Card for entry to their site. Even this is largely irrelevant for truck drivers, as I have complained about for many years! Certainly, your drivers should be given an induction to the site as a minimum requirement. There is no reason why you cannot provide the site, preferably in advance, with a document setting out your requirement for safe loading/unloading. This could be as formal as a JSEA or Safe Work Methods Statement, but if your access to their site is infrequent a simpler document should suffice. A site visit prior to the delivery/collection will be invaluable for this.
Remember that every PCBU involved will be held accountable by WorkSafe NZ if anything goes wrong, so it's in your own best interests to negotiate a suitable solution with those controlling the site.
Hi John
If the was an incident on the worksite involving your driver (during the short period that they are on site), Worksafe will not consider the commercial connections as to why you are there, they will only care that the "worker" on the site has been injured etc. Under the legislation all PCBU's have a duty of care to the workers and hence why all of the pre qual and relevant site controls must be met, if the site does not have a clear area, guidelines and controls in place for the safe loading and unloading of plant then I would suggest it would be up to you to ensure this is sorted before your truck gets there as your obligation under the HSWA act...if you are working for any of the large Tier 1 contractors this engagement prior to the work happening would generally be welcomed.
Thanks for the quick responses.
I agree, Site Safe cards would be an excellent idea; our drivers gain further knowledge and sites would welcome seeing the cards. Our drivers do attend inductions, they are mandatory for each site they enter.
We have sent out a document explaining our requirements while onsite, existing sites are not so easy to change and we have offered to meet at new sites to discuss layout options to achieve the health and safety for all.
I take it by your replies, that you lean towards sub-contractor. Pre-qualifications are important and if the questions do not apply to our service then enter N/A. Unfortunately, forms with N/A are not so welcomingly received. so we have decided to complete a SiteWise Pre-Qualifying Assessment. This way the assessor will see what questions do or don't apply to us and, hopefully, clarify our position in the grand scheme.
By the way, this site is Awesome!
Hi
Rather than questioning whether you are a contractor or sub-contractor, you might be better off simply calling yourself an overlapping PCBU when on these work sites.
There is a great 'quick reference guide' for overlapping PCBU's available on the WorkSafe website that explains your duties/responsibilities - see this link:
