When the National Road Safety Action Plan was released, it proposed that CLOCS-A and or ISO39001 be adopted as a safety measure for the construction industry. ISO 39001 is the International Road Traffics Safety Management Standard.
CLOCS-A began its national rollout on 1 July 2024 following the activation of the CLOCS-A accreditation IT platform.
Driver skills and Competencies in CLOCS-A and ISO 39001
One specific element in the CLOCS-A is the requirement for drivers to exhibit Low Risk Driving Skills. These skills include:
- Hazard identification, observation and scanning
- Speed limits and speed management
- Road positioning and buffering
- Crash avoidance space
- Safe overtaking and lane changing
- Safe reversing and spotters
Conversely the ISO 39001 also requires drivers to hold appropriate driver competencies.
The requirement for drivers to be competent leads to the following definition of competence for ISO 39001.
ISO 39001: What is competence and Company requirement for delivering driver competency
The Definition of Competence in ISO 39001 is:
Awareness, knowledge, understanding and competence may be obtained or improved through training, education, work experience, demonstration projects, or recruiting skilled staff. It is important to nominate a person to establish a process, which encourages regular consideration of new safety practices, techniques, approaches which can improve Road Traffic Safety performance. Regularly updating this understanding within the context of its overall commitment and approach to Road Traffic Safety.
Requiring competence under ISO 39001 (Extract) Section 7.3
The organization shall
- Determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its Road Traffic Safety (RTS) performance
- Ensure these persons are competent, on the basis of education, training, and experience
- Where applicable take measures to acquire the necessary competence and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken
- Retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence
Note: Applicable actions can include, for example, the provision of training to, the mentoring of, or the re-assignment of employed persons, or the hiring, or contracting of competent persons.
In both cases above, the requirements for the truck driver goes further than a driver just holding a heavy vehicle licence in isolation of further skills acquisition.