Section navigation

Home > Drivers > Our safety approach > Safety duties

Safety duties

The regulatory framework in the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Act 2017 (CPVI Act) establishes a general duty of care for each industry participant to ensure the safety of their commercial passenger vehicle service. They comprise:

  • a general duty for each party to take proactive action to manage risks and ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of their services
  • specific duties that are added to match the role of the regulated party and their ability to influence safety
  • additional requirements detailed in the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Regulations 2018 (CPVI Regulations) regarding risk registers, records and reporting.

Register of Safety Risks – effective from 1 March 2019

From 1 March 2019, all Booking Service Providers are required to have a Register of Safety Risks in place for their business.

The register identifies safety risks that are associated with the provision of commercial passenger vehicle services by accredited drivers and is a key component of risk management practices.

It’s also a vital tool for documenting risks and any actions necessary to manage, mitigate and respond to them. The register must be reviewed annually and revised at regular intervals depending on the level of risk identified.

Visit our Register of safety risks page to learn what a register must contain, plus other important information and access to additional resources.

Reporting of notifiable incidents – effective from 1 March 2019

From 1 March 2019, industry participants are required to notify CPVV of any incident related to the provision of commercial passenger vehicle services resulting in:

  • the death of any person
  • the serious injury of any person
  • attendance by police
  • attendance by a health professional.

Please note: BSPs can notify CPVV of incidents on behalf of their drivers and vehicle owners.

Visit Notifiable incidents to learn about your notifiable incident reporting requirements and to access our online reporting form.

What does ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’ mean?

Each participant has a duty to ensure safety ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’ to the standard. What can reasonably and practically be required is always a judgement based on all the relevant facts of a participant’s circumstances.

This means considering the following factors in deciding what is ‘reasonably practicable’ in each situation:

  • the likelihood of the risks involved
  • the degree of harm that would result if the risks eventuate
  • what you know, or ought to know, about the risks and ways to control those risks
  • the availability and suitability of ways to control the risks
  • the cost of controlling the risks.

We are developing further guidance material about safety and the concept of ‘So far as is reasonably practicable’ which will be available soon.

Working together

We work with our partners, targeting our regulatory activities at the following safety-related harms resulting from the provision of commercial passenger vehicle services:

  • traffic accidents involving commercial passenger vehicles and injuring drivers, passengers and members of the public such as other road users
  • harms to passengers from violence, sexual assault and aggressive behaviour; harms suffered by passengers with a disability
  • occupational harms which injure drivers, including violence, aggression, and stress-related illnesses
  • harms to the public caused by the delivery of commercial passenger vehicle services
  • loss of public confidence in the safety of the industry.

How does this work in practice?

The greater the risk and seriousness of the harm posed by the risk, the higher the duty is to take precautions, even if these are expensive or difficult to adopt.

For example, as booking service provider, it is clearly ‘reasonably practicable’ to have appropriate inspection and maintenance checks, administrative procedures, or driver awareness training in place, to address the risks associated with operating a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

However, it may or may not be ‘reasonably practicable’ to install the latest hoist systems if they cannot be adapted to a vehicle or do not have a proven safety benefit, or the effort in terms of costs, time and trouble are not in proportion to the risk.

Having good risk management practices that identify and assess risks, and consider appropriate controls, are important in demonstrating that everything ‘reasonably practicable’ has been done to meet safety duties.

Codes of practice

Codes of practice set out industry standards of conduct and are a practical guide for industry participants on how to comply with their legal duties under the CPVI Act and Regulations.

We have developed the Victorian Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Code of Practice to provide information and guidance to safety duty holders to help them meet their regulatory requirements and provide commercial passenger vehicle services that are safe and comply with the commercial passenger vehicle industry legislative framework.

Visit the Code of practice page to view the code and to find further information.

Resources

Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria has further information on safety duties below.