The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) is set to publish a new Crane Industry Code of Practice on Monday April 15.
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The Code, developed in partnership with the Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA), is being produced to assist the crane industry and associated businesses in complying with the primary duty, according to the NHVR. According to CICA’s Technical Project Engineer, Alice Edwards, the new code is set to focus more on the transportation side of mobile cranes rather than the lifting element.
“What’s been produced between the NHVR and CICA is a good document for the safety elements of transporting a mobile crane,” she said. “It’s important for our members to read the industry code when it comes out and implement the safety practices advised.”
The new code is set to contain a summary of control measures to control the risks in transporting mobile cranes. However, as Alice stresses, the Code of Practice differs to other models, in the sense that it gives equal weight to all of the varying risks and that it is not something to follow explicitly; rather, the model is in place to advise companies on situations they deem applicable to their situations.
“The onus is on any key stakeholder involved in the chain of conducting business with a mobile crane to deem what is related to their business,” she said. “We’ve developed this code to service the entirety of the supply chain – whether that be a Tier One builder, or a local crane hire company – and it’s imperative that companies examine the Code of Practice to deem what is relevant to them.”
Should a mishap occur with the transportation of mobile cranes, the Code of Practice will be referred back to to deem what went wrong and what control measures were in place.
Once the initial draft has been published, the NHVR is inviting industry participants and members of the public to review the code and provide feedback before it undergoes assessment for registration. The code will be open for feedback from Monday April 15 until Wednesday May 15.
The new crane industry Code of Practice has been in development since early 2017, overcoming a series of meetings between CICA and the NHVR to get to the point it is at today.
Comments can be submitted using the feedback form available on the NHVR website or sent to codes@nhvr.gov.au.