Chain of Responsibility (WA)

Consignor / receiver

Ensure goods carried on your behalf do not exceed dimension or mass limits and are appropriately secured. Review processes, put compliance into commercial arrangements, and avoid rewarding non-compliance.

Consignor / receiver factsheet

Loader / packer

Loads must respect mass and dimension limits, be placed/secured so they do not move or fall, be accurately documented, and not overload container ratings.

Loader / packer factsheet

Driver

Drivers share responsibility for mass, dimension and load restraint. Examples of reasonable steps include weighing/carrying dockets and checking restraint against the Load Restraint Guide.

Driver factsheet

Operator / manager

Operators must ensure loads are properly restrained and within mass/dimension limits. As a control for who uses the vehicle, operators should also ensure drivers hold a valid (not suspended) licence and that vehicles are registered before they go on the road. Owners/operators may have specific reasonable-steps defences where the vehicle was used outside employment/agency scope.

Operator / manager factsheet

Minor

For load restraint: load not displaced/unsecured, displacement not imminent, and no serious risk of harm to safety, environment, infrastructure or amenity.

Substantial

Load displaced/unsecured or displacement imminent, without serious risk of harm — or load likely to become unsecured with serious risk if it did.

Severe

Load displaced/unsecured or displacement imminent, and serious risk of harm to public safety, environment, road infrastructure or amenity.

Suspended or cancelled licences

A driver whose licence is suspended, cancelled, expired, or otherwise not valid for the vehicle class should not be rostered. Under CoR, operators and managers are expected to take reasonable steps so people under their control do not contribute to road-law breaches.

• Know who is driving your vehicles
• Confirm licence status before work, not only at hire
• Re-check after periods of inactivity or after known offences
• Keep evidence of the checks you commissioned

Allowing a suspended driver to operate can undermine any claim that you managed transport risk responsibly.

Unregistered vehicles

Operating an unregistered (or overdue / not-roadworthy) vehicle exposes the operator, and can interact with broader road-law and CoR accountability for anyone who controls how the vehicle is used.

• Confirm registration is current for plates in the fleet
• Do not dispatch vehicles with failed or unknown status
• Treat registration checks as part of the same due-diligence cycle as licence checks
• Keep dated reports with your compliance records

Registration status alone does not cover mass, dimension or load restraint — those still need dedicated systems — but an unregistered vehicle should never be “business as usual.”