Safely immobilising heavy vehicles and trailers campaign
Unsafe heavy vehicle and trailer immobilisation has caused numerous fatalities, serious injuries and significant property damage when heavy vehicles roll away or move unintentionally.
Campaign focus
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) conducted a safety campaign to identify the causes of unsafe immobilisation, provide businesses with resources on how to manage these risks, and ensure compliance with work health and safety laws.
From 2016 to 2018, WHSQ inspectors carried out more than 400 assessments, with improvement notices issued for:
- workers not safely immobilising trucks
- workers not coupling and decoupling trailers safely
- inadequate maintenance
- unsafe work conducted under trucks and trailers
- no or inadequate systems of work
- inadequate worker training, information, supervision or instruction.
Businesses must ensure that vehicles and trailers are safely immobilised, especially when workers get out of, or are near, under or on the truck or trailer.
Resources
- Safely immobilising heavy vehicles and trailers campaign report (PDF, 0.37 MB)
- Safely immobilising heavy vehicles and trailers checklist (PDF, 0.46 MB)
- Russell Transport case study: Retrofitting a hand-brake alarm
- Industry solution – Hydraulic hoist and vehicle isolation
- Short film – Coupling and de-coupling trailers safely
- Short film – Safe systems to immobilise heavy vehicles and trailers
- Vehicle loading cranes self-assessment tool (PDF, 0.25 MB)
- Webinar – Safely immobilising heavy vehicles and trailers
- Safety alert – Heavy vehicles and trailers hitting or crushing workers
- Managing the Risk of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (PDF, 1.57 MB)
Where to get help
Take advantage of the tailored, face-to-face advice provided by our Injury Prevention and Management (IPaM) advisors. IPaM advisors can assist you assess your systems for safely immobilising heavy vehicles and trailers and advise you on how to make improvements. IPaM is free for Queensland businesses. Register for IPaM now to talk to an advisor or email for more information.