Nomenclature

Term	Definition
CoR	Chain of Responsibility
CWD	Container Weight Declaration
GVM	Gross Vehicle Mass
HVNL	Heavy Vehicle National Law
NHVAS	National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme
NHVR	National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
PU	Penalty Unit
RT(V) Act	Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 (WA)

Purpose

This procedure sets out how Westlink Logistics identifies and discharges its Chain of Responsibility (CoR) obligations when it is a party in the chain for a heavy vehicle — principally as a consignor, packer, loading manager or operator that engages sub-contracted road carriers. It establishes the sub-contractor assurance system, the executive due-diligence arrangements, and the mass, dimension, loading, fatigue and speed controls by which Westlink takes reasonable steps to ensure the safety of its transport activities. Westlink does not own a road fleet; its CoR exposure arises from the way it consigns, packs, plans and contracts road movements, not from driving.

Scope

This procedure applies to all road movements of Westlink consignments by sub-contracted carriers, and to every Westlink worker whose functions can affect the safety of those movements (consignment officers, schedulers, loaders, project and operations managers, and executives). It operates across two distinct legal regimes according to where the road movement occurs:

Interstate movements (South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania) are governed by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL): the primary duty, executive due-diligence duty, and the prohibition on requests and contracts that cause a driver to breach the Law.
Movements within Western Australia — Westlink’s home base — are governed by the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 (WA). Western Australia has not adopted the HVNL: WA uses an offence-based “responsible person” mass, dimension and loading regime with a reasonable-steps defence, and regulates heavy-vehicle fatigue separately under the RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA). WA has no statutory equivalent of the HVNL primary duty or executive due-diligence duty.

Container Weight Declaration and Verified Gross Mass determination are addressed in OPS-PRO-003 and are not repeated here. This procedure does not apply to Westlink’s own employees driving light vehicles, or to rail, sea or air legs of a movement.

Roles and Responsibilities

Role	Responsibility
Chief Executive Officer / Executives	Exercise due diligence to ensure Westlink complies with its CoR safety duties (HVNL s.26D). Acquire and keep current knowledge of CoR risks; ensure appropriate resources and processes exist and are used; and verify they are working (the five due-diligence elements). Maintain the CoR Executive Due Diligence record.
Operations Manager	Owns this procedure and the sub-contractor assurance system. Approves carrier engagement, sets contract CoR requirements, and is the decision point for stop/hold actions where a movement cannot be made safely or lawfully.
Scheduler / Consignment Officer	Plans movements, routes and timeslots so that a competent driver can comply with speed, mass, dimension, loading and fatigue requirements. Must not set a schedule, make a request or accept a deadline that would cause or encourage a driver to breach the law.
Loader / Packer	Ensures goods and freight containers are within mass and dimension limits and are restrained, and provides accurate consignment and weight information to the carrier.
QHSE / Compliance	Maintains the carrier prequalification register, runs the assurance audit cycle, monitors incidents and breaches, and reports CoR performance to executives.
Sub-contracted Carrier (external)	Holds the primary driving, vehicle-standards and fatigue obligations for the movement. Bound by the CoR clauses in its Westlink contract; provides evidence of compliance on request.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Chain of Responsibility (CoR)	The set of parties whose functions, decisions or business practices can affect the safety of a heavy-vehicle transport activity. Under the HVNL each party owes the primary duty; under WA law each “responsible person” owes function-specific mass, dimension and loading duties.
Primary duty (HVNL s.26C)	The duty of each party in the chain to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of its transport activities, including eliminating or minimising public risks and not causing or encouraging a driver to breach the Law.
Executive due diligence (HVNL s.26D)	The duty of an executive of a legal entity that has a safety duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the entity complies. “Due diligence” means the five reasonable-steps elements in s.26D(3): knowledge, understanding of risks, resources, processes, and verification.
Reasonable steps defence (WA, RT(V) Act s.113)	A defence to a WA mass/dimension/loading offence where the person did not know and could not reasonably have known of the offence and took all reasonable steps (or there were none available) to prevent it.
Responsible person (WA)	A party with mass, dimension or loading duties under the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 (WA) — including a consignor, consignee, loader, packer, operator and the responsible entity for a freight container.
Fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle	A heavy vehicle to which the heavy-vehicle fatigue rules apply (generally a vehicle over 12 tonnes GVM, or a bus over 4.5 tonnes carrying more than 12 adults), under the HVNL or, in WA, the RT(V) Regulations 2014.

CoR Party Status and Jurisdiction

Westlink is a party in the chain of responsibility whenever it consigns goods, packs or loads a vehicle or freight container, manages loading, or engages or directs a carrier or driver. CoR duties cannot be contracted out of or transferred, and more than one party can hold a duty for the same matter.

For each movement the responsible scheduler determines the governing regime by where the road transport occurs. Where a single movement crosses a jurisdiction boundary (for example a WA origin with an interstate destination), the controls of both regimes are applied for the relevant legs — the HVNL for the interstate leg and the RT(V) Act 2012 (WA) for the WA leg. Where the regimes differ, the more demanding control is applied so that a single consignment standard satisfies both.

Matter	Interstate (HVNL)	Western Australia
Overarching duty	Primary duty to ensure safety so far as reasonably practicable (s.26C).	No general primary duty; function-specific offences with a reasonable-steps defence (RT(V) Act s.113).
Executive accountability	Executive due-diligence duty (s.26D); executive officer liability (s.636).	No statutory executive due-diligence duty; governance applied as Westlink policy.
Mass / dimension / loading	Chapter 5 requirements via party duties.	ss.29 and 48-60 (minor / substantial / severe risk breach categories); consignor and loader duties (ss.95, 97, 103-104).
Fatigue	Driver duty (s.228); relevant-party duties (s.264, Chapter 6).	RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA).

Primary Duty and Reasonable Steps

For interstate movements Westlink discharges the s.26C primary duty by eliminating public risks so far as is reasonably practicable and, where elimination is not practicable, minimising them, and by ensuring its conduct does not directly or indirectly cause or encourage a driver to contravene the HVNL or exceed a speed limit. What is reasonably practicable is assessed against the likelihood and degree of harm, what Westlink knows or ought to know about the hazard and its control, and the availability and suitability of controls.

For WA movements there is no general primary duty; instead Westlink relies on the reasonable-steps defence by being able to show, for each function it performs, that it did not know and could not reasonably have known of a breach and that it took all reasonable steps to prevent it. The reasonable steps recorded under this procedure (prequalification, accurate information, compliant scheduling, contract requirements and monitoring) serve both the HVNL primary duty and the WA reasonable-steps defence.

Sub-contractor Assurance System

Engaging a sub-contracted carrier does not discharge Westlink’s CoR duties. Westlink maintains a documented assurance system so that it can demonstrate reasonable steps to ensure the carriers it engages can and do comply.

Prequalification — before engagement a carrier is assessed for relevant accreditation (for example National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation fatigue and mass management modules where applicable), insurances, vehicle-standards and maintenance evidence, and fatigue-management arrangements. The result is recorded in the carrier prequalification register.
Contract CoR clauses and cascade — every carrier contract includes CoR clauses requiring compliance with the applicable law, accurate information exchange, fatigue and speed compliance, and the flow-down (cascade) of equivalent requirements to any further sub-contractor the carrier engages. Westlink does not enter a contract that it knows or ought to know would have the effect of causing a driver to speed or to breach work and rest limits (HVNL s.26E(2)).
Worker competency — Westlink workers performing CoR-relevant functions (schedulers, consignment officers, loaders, project managers) receive role-specific CoR training so they can recognise and discharge their duties; training is recorded and refreshed.
Assurance audit cycle — engaged carriers are subject to risk-based periodic verification (evidence requests, performance review and, for higher-risk or oversize work, site or operational checks). Non-conformances are escalated to the Operations Manager and may trigger corrective action or termination.

Executive Due Diligence

For interstate operations each Westlink executive must exercise due diligence to ensure Westlink complies with its CoR safety duties (HVNL s.26D). An executive officer may be liable personally (s.636) independently of whether Westlink is prosecuted. Although WA imposes no equivalent statutory duty, Westlink applies the same due-diligence governance nationally as a matter of policy. The five due-diligence elements and how Westlink evidences each are:

Due-diligence element (s.26D(3))	How Westlink evidences it
Knowledge of safe transport activities	Executive CoR briefings; legislative and code updates tabled at management review.
Understanding hazards and risks	CoR risk register covering mass, dimension, loading, fatigue and speed exposures across Westlink’s movements.
Appropriate resources	Budget and tooling for prequalification, scheduling systems, training and audit.
Appropriate processes	This procedure and the assurance system, including incident reporting and timely response to CoR information.
Verification	Periodic executive review of audit results, breach data and the effectiveness of controls, recorded in the CoR Executive Due Diligence record.

Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance

As consignor, packer and loading manager, Westlink takes reasonable steps to ensure a heavy vehicle is not required or permitted to be loaded in a way that exceeds mass or dimension limits or that makes the load unsafe. This includes providing accurate goods descriptions and weights to the carrier, confirming the carrier and vehicle combination are suitable and appropriately permitted for the mass and dimension of the consignment, and ensuring restraint requirements are specified.

For WA movements the relevant duties are the consignor and loader transport-documentation duties (RT(V) Act ss.95 and 97) and the mass, dimension and loading offences graded by risk (ss.48-60); for interstate movements the equivalent Chapter 5 requirements apply via the primary duty. Container weight declaration and Verified Gross Mass are determined under OPS-PRO-003. A prime contractor engaging a sub-contracted carrier verifies, as a reasonable step, that the carrier can carry the mass and dimension of the consignment lawfully.

Fatigue Management in Scheduling

Schedulers must plan transport activities so that a driver can comply with the applicable work and rest limits and does not need to speed or breach fatigue rules to meet a timeslot. Westlink must not ask, direct, require or contract for anything it knows or ought reasonably to know would cause a driver to drive while impaired by fatigue or in breach of a work and rest hours option (HVNL s.26E).

Interstate — the driver holds the s.228 duty to avoid driving while fatigued; Westlink as scheduler/operator holds the relevant duties in s.264 and Chapter 6, and verifies carrier fatigue accreditation at prequalification. Schedules and the basis for them are recorded so compliance can be demonstrated.
Western Australia — heavy-vehicle fatigue is regulated under the RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA); Westlink schedules WA movements to those requirements and records the basis.

Speed and Vehicle Standards

Schedules, routes and timeslots are set so that a driver is not caused or encouraged to exceed a speed limit (HVNL s.26C(2)(b) and s.26E). At prequalification and through the assurance cycle, Westlink takes reasonable steps to confirm that the carrier’s vehicles meet roadworthiness and vehicle-standards requirements and are maintained, since an unsafe vehicle engaged by Westlink can engage Westlink’s primary duty.

Oversize and Over-mass Permits

Where a movement requires oversize or over-mass operation or a restricted-access vehicle, the required permits and any pilot or escort and route conditions are obtained and confirmed before the movement. In Western Australia these are administered by Main Roads WA Heavy Vehicle Services; for interstate movements through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. Permit conditions are passed to the carrier and form part of the movement record.

Monitoring, Records and Continual Improvement

CoR incidents, breaches and near misses are reported, investigated and used to improve controls. Carrier performance, audit findings and breach data are reviewed periodically by the Operations Manager and tabled for executive verification as part of due diligence. Records made under this procedure are retained in accordance with GOV-SCH-001.

Applicable Standards and Legislation

This procedure operates within the framework of the following external legislation and regulatory instruments. Where a statutory provision applies, the statutory definition and obligations prevail over any narrative description in this procedure. The Heavy Vehicle National Law applies to interstate movements only; movements within Western Australia are governed by the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 (WA) and the RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA).

Heavy Vehicle National Law 2012 — s.26C (primary duty), s.26D (executive officer due diligence)
National Heavy Vehicle Fatigue Management Standard — Standard Hours, BFM, AFM options
Road Traffic (Vehicles) Act 2012 (WA) — Part 4 — Mass, dimension and loading requirements: s.29, ss.48–60 (breach risk categories), s.95/97/103 (consignor, loader, freight-container duties), s.113–114 (reasonable-steps defence)
Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) — s.19–27 (duties), Part 3 ss.35–39 (incident notification)

Requirement	Clause	Coverage	Severity	Notes
HVNL-PD-02	HVNL s.26C(2)	Full		§Primary Duty and Reasonable StepsQHSE-PRO-014 §Primary Duty and Reasonable Steps applies the eliminate-then-minimise risk hierarchy to carrier selection, scheduling and routing for interstate movements. Coverage Partial - documented in QHSE-PRO-014 rev 1, not yet operationally exercised; residual is SFAIRP decision records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-PD-03	HVNL s.26C(1)-(2)	Partial	High	§Primary Duty and Reasonable StepsQHSE-PRO-014 §Primary Duty and Reasonable Steps and §Sub-contractor Assurance System set out the reasonable-steps controls evidencing the s.26C duty (prequalification, accurate information, compliant scheduling, contract terms, monitoring). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is the populated CoR reasonable-steps records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-EOD-02	HVNL s.26D(3) (executive due-diligence elements; cf. s.636 liability)	Full		§Executive Due DiligenceQHSE-PRO-014 §Executive Due Diligence documents the five s.26D(3) due-diligence elements and how each is evidenced, anchored by the CoR Executive Due Diligence record. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is the populated executive due-diligence record accruing from the first annual cycle.
HVNL-MDL-01	HVNL s.96 (general mass requirement) via s.26A-F party duties	Full		§Mass, Dimension and Loading AssuranceQHSE-PRO-014 §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance establishes provision of accurate goods weights to carriers (cross-referencing OPS-PRO-003 for CWD/VGM). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is weight-declaration records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-MDL-02	HVNL Ch 5 (dimension requirements) via party duties	Full		§Mass, Dimension and Loading AssuranceQHSE-PRO-014 §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance establishes dimension declaration and oversize/permit notification to carriers. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is consignment dimension records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-MDL-05	HVNL Ch 5 via scheduler duty	Partial	High	§Mass, Dimension and Loading AssuranceQHSE-PRO-014 §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance and §Oversize and Over-mass Permits cover route, mass and permit verification before consigning. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is route and permit-verification records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-MDL-06	HVNL Ch 5 via prime contractor duty	Full		§Sub-contractor Assurance SystemQHSE-PRO-014 §Sub-contractor Assurance System and §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance establish prime-contractor verification of carrier MDL capability (configuration, permits, accreditation, restraint) at prequalification. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is the populated prequalification register accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-FAT-01	HVNL s.26C, s.26E, s.264 (relevant-party fatigue duty; s.228 is the driver's duty)	Full		§Fatigue Management in SchedulingQHSE-PRO-014 §Fatigue Management in Scheduling establishes scheduling that allows work/rest compliance, with carrier fatigue accreditation verified at prequalification. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is schedule-basis records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-FAT-02	HVNL s.26C, s.26E (CoR party duty re driver's schedule)	Full		§Fatigue Management in SchedulingQHSE-PRO-014 §Fatigue Management in Scheduling and §Sub-contractor Assurance System address consignor/consignee/prime-contractor demands and contract terms affecting a driver's schedule (s.26E prohibited requests and contracts). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is demand-review records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-FAT-04	HVNL Ch 6 Pt 6.3 (accreditation verification)	Partial	High	§Fatigue Management in SchedulingQHSE-PRO-014 §Fatigue Management in Scheduling and §Sub-contractor Assurance System require verification of carrier fatigue accreditation (Standard/BFM/AFM) at prequalification and periodically. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is accreditation-verification records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-FAT-05	HVNL s.228 (evidence of compliance — schedule records)	Partial	High	§Fatigue Management in SchedulingQHSE-PRO-014 §Fatigue Management in Scheduling requires schedules and the basis for them to be recorded so compliance can be demonstrated. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is schedule-design records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-SPD-01	HVNL Ch 6 Pt 6.2 (scheduler duty re speed)	Full		§Speed and Vehicle StandardsQHSE-PRO-014 §Speed and Vehicle Standards requires schedules, routes and timeslots set so a driver is not caused to exceed speed limits (journey time computed at lawful speeds). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is schedule records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-VS-01	HVNL Ch 4 (vehicle standards) via party duty	Full		§Speed and Vehicle StandardsQHSE-PRO-014 §Speed and Vehicle Standards and §Sub-contractor Assurance System require verification of carrier vehicle roadworthiness, standards and maintenance at prequalification. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is vehicle-standards verification records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-SYS-02	HVNL s.26C, s.26D(3) (training as a reasonable step)	Full		§Sub-contractor Assurance SystemQHSE-PRO-014 §Sub-contractor Assurance System (worker competency) establishes role-specific CoR training for schedulers, consignment officers, loaders and project managers. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is completed training records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-SYS-03	HVNL s.26C (sub-contractor assurance - reasonable steps)	Full		§Sub-contractor Assurance SystemQHSE-PRO-014 §Sub-contractor Assurance System establishes the documented prequalification, contract-CoR-clause, audit-cycle and termination regime - Westlink's core operational CoR control. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is the populated carrier prequalification register and audit records accruing from the next operating cycle.
HVNL-SYS-04	HVNL s.26C(3)(b), s.26E(2) (contract cascade; prohibited contracts)	Full		§Sub-contractor Assurance SystemQHSE-PRO-014 §Sub-contractor Assurance System requires CoR clauses and cascade (flow-down) in every carrier contract and prohibits contracts that would cause a driver to breach the Law (s.26E(2)). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is executed contracts carrying the CoR annex (and legal review of the standard annex) accruing from the next operating cycle.
WARV-02	RT(V) Act 2012 (WA) Part 4 - s.29, s.95, s.103 (consignor MDL + transport-documentation duties); s.113 reasonable-steps defence	Full		§Mass, Dimension and Loading AssuranceQHSE-PRO-014 §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance covers the WA consignor MDL and transport-documentation duties (RT(V) Act s.29, s.95, s.103) under the reasonable-steps defence (s.113). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is consignment and weight-declaration records accruing from the next operating cycle.
WARV-04	RT(V) Act 2012 (WA) Part 4 - responsible-person MDL duty (no WA scheduler party); s.113 reasonable-steps defence	Full		§Primary Duty and Reasonable StepsQHSE-PRO-014 §Primary Duty and Reasonable Steps and §Mass, Dimension and Loading Assurance cover the WA responsible-person duty (no statutory scheduler party in WA) under the reasonable-steps defence (s.113). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is reasonable-steps records accruing from the next operating cycle.
WARV-05	RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA) fatigue provisions	Partial	High	§Fatigue Management in SchedulingQHSE-PRO-014 §Fatigue Management in Scheduling schedules WA movements to the RT(V) Regulations 2014 (WA) and records the basis, applying WHS-based risk control where the Regulations are silent. Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is WA schedule-basis records accruing from the next operating cycle.
WARV-08	Main Roads WA Heavy Vehicle Operations permits	Full		§Oversize and Over-mass PermitsQHSE-PRO-014 §Oversize and Over-mass Permits requires permits, pilot/escort and route conditions to be obtained and confirmed before movement (Main Roads WA Heavy Vehicle Services / NHVR). Coverage Partial - documented in rev 1; residual is permit records accruing from the next operating cycle.

Pending approval — not yet published

Transport Sub-contractor Chain of Responsibility Assurance Procedure