Early in 2021, Sydney Trains made significant modifications to a
fleet of around 500 light vehicles used by its service and
maintenance employees. It is a requirement under road transport
legislation in NSW that modifications carried out on a registered
light vehicle must comply with the applicable vehicle standards
– in this case, the Light Vehicle Standards Rules.
There is also a prohibition in clause 84 of the Road Transport
(Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017 (the Regulation) on a
vehicle with a "significant modification" being operated
without a compliance certificate for that modification.
Effect of the modifications on worker safety
The nature of the modifications to the Sydney Trains vehicles
meant the vehicles no longer complied with the Light Vehicle
Standards Rules and had the potential to compromise the safety
of occupants in the event of an accident – including, for
example, by potentially impacting the proper deployment of airbags
and restricting
