SafeWork SA has launched a 12-month compliance campaign targeting the road transport industry following a three-day truck stop operation.
Conducted near Port Augusta from 20-22 June, SafeWork SA completed 129 truck audits as part of the operation with more than two thirds of vehicles found to have safety issues.
A team of SafeWork SA inspectors issued 166 statutory notices for non-compliance issues including poor condition of load restraints, inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for dangerous goods carried, no fire extinguishers, drivers not being adequately trained to carry dangerous goods and lack of roadside safety warning triangles.
Inspectors will follow up with the impacted truck operators in the coming weeks to ensure that compliance with the notices has been achieved.
Known as Operation Vigilant, the joint operation was run in conjunction with other state and federal government agencies.
It followed on from a similar blitz at Monteith in March and coincides with the launch on a SafeWork SA compliance campaign focusing on the road transport industry.
The compliance campaign will run from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 and will include further operations with interjurisdictional partners to reduce serious injuries and fatalities through truck stop operations at weighbridges and intelligence led ‘yard raids’.
The campaign will also focus on dangerous good transport. SafeWork SA licences about 1300 vehicles to transport an array of dangerous substances from fuels for vehicles, emulsions for mine sites to acids and bases for manufacturers and primary industries.
It follows a pilot project undertaken earlier this year that identified the level of compliance within the dangerous goods transport industry.
SafeWork SA will also target road transport businesses with a history of high workers’ compensation claims.
It will include worksite inspections and audits to identify non-compliance and assist in educating the businesses on their Work Health & Safety (WHS) duty of care to meet their statutory obligations.
The Transport, Postal and Warehousing industry employs about 36,600 workers in South Australia, accounting for 4 per cent of the state’s workforce.
The Road Transport sub-industry is identified as a priority industry under the Australian WHS Strategy 2023-2033 due to high rates of worker harm.
Common road transport risks include manual handling, psychosocial risks and noise.