Chain of Responsibility is fast becoming the next ‘Work Place Health and Safety’. It’s daunting, new and no-one seems to know what to do. You’re not alone though!
I’ve been down the road your travelling and as daunting as it seems, you too can overcome the stringent legislation relatively easy by following some simple steps to get you going in the right direction.
1. Communicate
As much as the current legislation is changing, it has some helpful stuff to point you in the right direction. After all, the current legislation around truck safety is still about making sure industry is improving. One of the elements in the current legislation tries to imply that open communication with your drivers, vendors and partners in the supply chain is a requirement to help bridge the gap between relationships. You will benefit by doing this, as it opens the door to views and opinions about things you may not have even realised. One of the major elements in CoR i always seem to hear is ‘we just didn’t know’ and who is supposed to know what they don’t know right?
So the aim here is to invite people within your supply chain into your business to talk CoR, irrespective if they work for you directly or not.
2. Get a Guru in your business
There’s plenty of people in your business right now, with many passions and importantly many skills and past experiences. Even though I have worked in warehouses, I have also worked with trucks, procurement, safety and real estate,not to mention starting out way back when as a Chef. You just don’t know what resources you have in your business until you snoop around. So snoop around and find someone who knows a little about trucks and ask them to champion CoR in your business. You’d be amazed at what these people can do for you in your business and they can take on huge amounts of responsibility from you. Just make sure you keep tabs on where they’re at and give them plenty of support. Two sets of eyes are better than one!
3. Integrate CoR with WHS
WHS is now a very well known workplace safety function. 20 years ago, it was news to everyone and no one seemed to know what to do or how to handle this in business. Who doesn’t know safety in business today? So why not take something unknown and mix it with a known function in your business. Get started today and ask your guru or champion to invite some vendors to your local WHS meeting and talk a little about CoR. Get it on the agendas and start addressing transport related risks in your business.
4. Audit yourself
People keep asking me all the time, how do I know where to start? Good question, but seriously easy to get an answer to. You have heaps of options out there today and an Audit is one really simple way to get your current status in CoR, not to mention a gap analysis, or as I like to put it a road map to success. Many people don’t know what they don’t know, its fine, you can’t be across everything. But there are experts out there who can help you and your business understand where to go next. Just ask around, even if your business is remote, you can still access an audit and gap analysis relatively cheaply.
5. Strategize your safety
Not everyone in your business will want to know or feel they need to know about CoR, but the reality is they must and all businesses are as of the 1st July 2018, that work within any supply chain, are now just as responsible as the next party when ensuring their compliance with the heavy vehicle national law. So don’t sit idle, that’s the worst thing you can do! Get people in your business into a masterclass or training session to make them aware of everyone’s obligations. Put it on people’s agendas and start planning that now. Get cash into your budget for an Audit, training session or a simple 2 hour outline of CoR for the leaders in your business and put CoR on their agenda. Get it into the business strategy today and let teamwork hep you.
Conclusion
Communication is the key to success with CoR, make it a talking point in your business and start with safety meetings, they already exists. Get people on board, including your vendors and show people that CoR is serious, you take it seriously and the heavy vehicle national law means business when it comes to improving safety on our roads.
It’s really simple; strategize, communicate, invite, share and delegate. Share the love people!
Written by
Matthew Wragg
www.maez.com.au
For help in your business with CoR – audits, training designed for your business or simple one to one advice, don’t hesitate to email me at mwragg@maez.com.au today.