As a party in the Chain of Responsibility you must ensure drivers and other workers who interact with heavy vehicles are appropriately skilled. Recent regulatory advice from the NHVR highlights the safety risks of undertrained workers and emphasises the requirement under section 26C to ensure new and existing workers are appropriately skilled.
“Drivers and other workers have a role to play in participating in training. However, the onus is on CoR parties and their executives to ensure workers are adequately trained with the necessary skills to undertake tasks safely”
The NHVR’s advice indicates that for CoR parties there is a need, “as a minimum”, for a risk assessment to consider the risks associated with insufficient or inadequately trained workers, and recommends that this is followed with a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) to determine the required skills for the workforce.
Once the TNA is completed, the NHVR highlights the need for delivery of appropriate training and the importance of controlling the risks of undertrained workers through reviewing training, delivering appropriate refresher training, maintaining training records and providing adequate supervision, especially for inexperienced workers.
Reviewing training
“Regularly conduct a review of your business’s training needs to check it’s up to date, fit for purpose and responsive to emerging risks or changing situations. Reviews may also be helpful to identify gaps in training or alternatives for delivery as part of your wider Safety Management System (SMS). Conduct reviews on a regular, scheduled basis and on an as-needed basis.”
Refresher training
“[Refresher training] may be required because of a workplace incident. This kind of training is essential to help workers:
retain previously delivered information
reinforce the skills necessary to do their job
identify gaps or correct any misunderstandings in their knowledge.”
Full details of the NHVR’s regulatory advice on managing the risk of undertrained workers can be found at the NHVR website
Graeme Agnew is an internationally recognised transport safety and load restraint expert. As part of the HSE Global Transport Safety team he helps businesses meet their CoR obligations including assisting with Risk Assessments, Training Needs Analysis, as well as on-site training and reviews.
He is also the primary subject matter expert for HSE Global’s Online CoR training.