How to: conduct a Chain of Responsibility risk assessment to avoid an HVNL breach

The only potential defence to a breach of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) is to show that you took 'all reasonable steps' to prevent the relevant breach.

The first step is to identify any likely breaches, i.e. risks, and to develop and implement appropriate measures to prevent or mitigate those risks. This article will provide guidance on how to approach and document this risk assessment.

Some of the factors that a court may consider in assessing whether you have taken 'all reasonable steps' include taking steps to:

• prevent, manage, minimise or eliminate the likelihood of a CoR breach or risk to public safety occurring;
• exercise supervision or control over other parties in the CoR involved with the load and its transportation;