Quick answer: A transport business in Australia generally needs a WHS policy, Chain of Responsibility (CoR) policy and procedures, fatigue management records, vehicle pre-start and maintenance records, load restraint procedures, a driver licences and accreditation register, SWMS for loading and unloading activities, mass management documentation, driver induction records, incident register, and evidence of current insurances. The exact documents required depend on the type of transport work, whether heavy vehicles are operated, and the size of your business.
Last reviewed: 12 June 2026
Transport businesses in Australia operate under a complex documentary landscape. In addition to obligations under Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation, road transport operators must also contend with the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and its Chain of Responsibility (CoR) framework — a distinct but interacting set of obligations that can apply to everyone in the supply chain, not just the driver behind the wheel.
Getting your documentation right matters. During a roadside inspection, depot audit, or WorkSafe investigation, the absence of key records can quickly become a significant legal and operational problem. This guide sets out the core WHS and CoR-related documents that transport businesses commonly need, explains the purpose of each, and highlights how the two frameworks interact.
Note: WHS legislation in Australia is based on the model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 developed by Safe Work Australia. The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) applies in all states and territories except Western Australia and the Northern Territory, which have their own road transport laws. Always check the requirements in your jurisdiction.
At a glance
| Your role in transport | Key additional obligations |
|---|---|
| Any transport business with workers | WHS policy, incident register, induction records, emergency procedures |
| Heavy vehicle operator (HVNL) | CoR policy, fatigue management records, mass management, vehicle maintenance records |
| Employer of drivers | Training register, driver licences register, return-to-work program |
| Consignor, consignee, scheduler, or loader | CoR obligations regardless of whether you directly employ drivers |
| Businesses involved in loading/unloading | SWMS, load restraint procedures |
Core WHS and CoR documents required
The following table summarises the documents most commonly required or expected for a transport business operating in Australia.
| Document | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| WHS Policy | Demonstrates leadership commitment to health and safety; required under the WHS Act for businesses with workers |
| Chain of Responsibility (CoR) Policy | Documents the business's obligations under the HVNL; required as part of a CoR management system |
| CoR Procedures | Sets out how the business manages its CoR obligations in practice, including scheduling, consignment, loading, and mass management |
| Fatigue Management Records | Required under the HVNL; includes work diaries (logbooks), records of work and rest hours, and fatigue risk assessments |
| Vehicle Pre-Start Inspection Records | Documents daily vehicle checks; supports roadworthiness and duty-of-care obligations |
| Vehicle Maintenance and Service Records | Demonstrates that vehicles are kept in a safe and roadworthy condition |
| Load Restraint Procedures | Sets out how loads are secured in accordance with the Load Restraint Guide; a CoR and WHS obligation |
| Driver Licences and Accreditation Register | Tracks current licence classes, Heavy Vehicle Driver Authorisation (where applicable), and expiry dates |
| Driver Induction Records | Evidence that drivers and other workers have received safety training and been inducted into the business |
| SWMS for Loading and Unloading | Required when loading or unloading activities involve or occur near high risk construction work; good practice for all higher-risk loading tasks |
| Mass Management Documentation | Records of axle mass monitoring, load weights, and mass compliance where applicable |
| Incident Register | Records all incidents, near misses, injuries, and vehicle incidents; supports investigation and regulatory reporting |
| Hazard / Risk Register | Documents identified workplace hazards, risk ratings, and controls |
| Training Register | Records qualifications, licences, heavy vehicle competency training, and other training completed by workers |
| Emergency Procedures | Sets out response procedures for breakdowns, accidents, dangerous goods incidents, and on-road emergencies |
| Insurance Records | Evidence of current public liability, workers compensation, and vehicle insurance — commonly requested by clients and regulators |
| Contractor / Subcontractor Register | Documents owner-operators and subcontractors engaged, their licences, insurance, and safety compliance |
Chain of Responsibility — a distinct but interacting obligation
Chain of Responsibility (CoR) is one of the most significant compliance obligations for transport businesses and is frequently misunderstood. Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, CoR means that everyone in the supply chain who has the ability to influence how a heavy vehicle is used shares legal responsibility for breaches — not just the driver.
Parties who can be held liable under CoR include:
- Operators — businesses that control or are responsible for the management or use of a heavy vehicle
- Schedulers — anyone who schedules the transport task, including dispatchers and operations staff
- Consignors — the party who sends or arranges for goods to be transported
- Consignees — the party who receives or arranges to receive the goods
- Loaders — anyone involved in packing or loading goods onto the vehicle
- Employers of drivers
This means a freight forwarder, a manufacturer loading goods onto a third-party truck, or a logistics company scheduling runs can have CoR obligations — even if they do not own or operate a single vehicle. CoR documentation must reflect the actual supply chain arrangements in your business.
The key CoR obligations that generate documentary requirements are:
- Mass, dimension, and load management — demonstrating that loads comply with legal limits
- Fatigue management — ensuring drivers are not pressured to drive fatigued, and that hours are correctly recorded and monitored
- Vehicle standards — ensuring vehicles are safe, roadworthy, and properly maintained
- Scheduling — ensuring time pressures do not lead to speeding, fatigue breaches, or unsafe loading
A CoR management system should include a written policy, documented procedures, records demonstrating compliance, and evidence of training and supervision. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) provides guidance on CoR obligations and what a compliant management system looks like.
See also: Heavy vehicle SWMS guide
Fatigue management documents
Fatigue is one of the leading risk factors in heavy vehicle crashes in Australia. Under the HVNL, drivers of heavy vehicles are subject to fatigue laws, and operators are obligated to ensure those laws are not breached — including by the way they schedule work.
Fatigue management documents typically required include:
- Work diaries (logbooks): Drivers subject to standard hours or Basic Fatigue Management (BFM) rules must complete a work diary recording hours of work, rest, and location. Electronic Work Diaries (EWDs) are approved alternatives to paper work diaries for eligible drivers.
- Roster and scheduling records: Evidence that rosters and schedules are designed to allow drivers to comply with their fatigue obligations.
- Fatigue risk assessment: A documented assessment of fatigue risks relevant to your operations, particularly for long-haul routes, night driving, or irregular schedules.
- Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) accreditation documents: Businesses operating under an AFM accreditation must maintain a substantial body of documentation demonstrating their fatigue management system meets NHVR standards.
Operators must keep work diary records for a minimum of three years and must produce them for inspection when requested.
Vehicle pre-start and maintenance records
Keeping vehicles roadworthy is both a WHS obligation and a CoR obligation. A transport business should maintain:
- Daily pre-start inspection checklists: A standardised checklist completed by the driver before each shift, covering tyres, lights, brakes, steering, mirrors, load restraint equipment, and other safety-critical items.
- Defect reporting records: A process and records for reporting defects identified during pre-start or on the road, and the corrective actions taken.
- Scheduled maintenance records: Service history for each vehicle, including dates, odometer readings, items checked or replaced, and the name of the repairer.
- Roadworthiness certificates and registration records: Kept current and available for inspection.
Defect records are particularly important — if a driver identifies a defect and it is not actioned, the operator and any relevant CoR parties may be exposed.
Load restraint procedures
Unsecured or inadequately restrained loads are a major road safety hazard and a significant source of CoR liability. Transport businesses should have documented load restraint procedures that reference the current edition of the Load Restraint Guide published by the NHVR and the National Transport Commission (NTC).
Load restraint procedures should cover:
- How loads are to be assessed before restraint
- The restraint methods and equipment to be used for different load types
- Responsibilities of loaders, drivers, and operators
- Inspection of restraint during transit, particularly after stops
Load restraint is also a common subject for Safe Work Method Statements — see truck loading and unloading SWMS guide for further information.
SWMS for loading and unloading activities
Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are required before commencing any high risk construction work. For transport businesses, the most common situation where a SWMS is required is when drivers are involved in loading or unloading activities at or near a construction site. Even where a SWMS is not strictly legally required, it is considered good practice for any non-routine or elevated-risk loading task — including:
- Manual handling of heavy, bulky, or awkward loads
- Crane-assisted or machinery-assisted loading
- Loading or unloading in confined or restricted areas
- Working at height during loading or securing of loads
- Loading operations at sites with pedestrian or traffic hazards
A SWMS for truck loading and unloading should identify the activity, the hazards associated with it, and the risk controls the business and its workers will apply. Where drivers are working under the direction of a principal contractor at a construction site, the principal contractor may require the driver or transport business to submit a SWMS before commencing work.
Driver induction and training records
A transport business has an obligation to ensure drivers and other workers have the knowledge and skills to perform their work safely. Induction and training records demonstrate this obligation is being met. These records typically include:
- Driver induction records: Signed evidence that each driver has received a business induction covering WHS policies, fatigue rules, emergency procedures, load restraint requirements, and reporting obligations.
- Training register: A current record of each worker's licence class, any heavy vehicle-specific competency training, dangerous goods licences or certificates (if applicable), and other relevant qualifications.
- Refresher training records: Evidence of ongoing training, particularly following a change in operations, an incident, or a regulatory update.
Incident register and reporting
All incidents, near misses, vehicle incidents, and work-related injuries must be recorded. For a transport business, the incident register is particularly important because incidents may need to be reported to multiple regulators — the WHS regulator (e.g. SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria) and potentially the NHVR or relevant road authority depending on the circumstances.
Serious incidents — including fatalities, serious injuries, and dangerous occurrences — must be notified to the relevant WHS regulator immediately. Certain serious vehicle incidents may also trigger NHVR reporting obligations.
Example scenario
Consider a regional freight carrier in New South Wales operating a fleet of eight semi-trailers and employing twelve drivers and two schedulers. The business's documentation would typically include:
- A WHS policy and CoR policy held at the business level, reviewed annually
- CoR procedures covering scheduling, fatigue monitoring, mass management, and load restraint
- Fatigue management records — work diaries completed by all drivers subject to standard hours, with completed diaries retained for three years
- Daily pre-start inspection checklists for each vehicle, with completed records kept for a minimum period
- Vehicle maintenance records for each truck, including scheduled service records and defect reports
- Load restraint procedures aligned to the current Load Restraint Guide, with drivers trained and signed off
- Driver induction records for all drivers, including new drivers inducted before their first trip
- Training register tracking current licence classes, heavy combination endorsements, and any dangerous goods licences
- SWMS for loading and unloading operations, available to drivers working at construction sites or other higher-risk loading locations
- An incident register maintained in real time, with notifiable incidents reported to SafeWork NSW
- Current insurance records — public liability, workers compensation, and fleet insurance — maintained and available for client and contractor prequalification
This business would also maintain an emergency procedures document, a contractor register for any owner-operators engaged, and a hazard register covering the main risks in their operations.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chain of Responsibility (CoR) the same as WHS?
No — they are separate but related obligations. WHS legislation (the Work Health and Safety Act 2011) governs the health and safety of workers and other persons at the workplace. Chain of Responsibility (CoR) is a regime under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) that applies to everyone in the supply chain who can influence how a heavy vehicle is used — including operators, schedulers, consignors, consignees, and loaders. A transport business may have CoR obligations even for people who are not their direct employees. The two frameworks interact: poor WHS practice can create CoR breaches, and vice versa. Each requires its own policies and procedures.
Do owner-operators and small trucking businesses need all these documents?
Most of them, yes. Owner-operators operating heavy vehicles are still subject to the Heavy Vehicle National Law and its CoR obligations, including mass, dimension, and loading requirements. Fatigue management records are required for all drivers of heavy vehicles subject to standard hours or basic fatigue management rules. A WHS policy, incident register, vehicle pre-start records, and load restraint procedures are broadly expected regardless of fleet size. The scale of your WHS management system can be proportionate to the size of your business, but the underlying obligations still apply.
When is a SWMS required for transport work?
A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is required before commencing any high risk construction work. In the transport context, this is most commonly triggered when drivers are involved in loading or unloading activities at a construction site, or when working in or around other workplaces where high risk construction work is being performed. A SWMS is also good practice for any non-routine or higher-risk task — such as manual loading and unloading of heavy or awkward loads, crane-assisted loading, or working in confined spaces during maintenance. See our truck loading and unloading SWMS guide for further detail.
How long do fatigue management records need to be kept?
Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, fatigue records — including work diaries (logbooks) and records of work and rest hours — must generally be kept for a minimum of three years. An operator must be able to produce records for inspection when requested by an authorised officer. Records supporting your broader WHS and CoR system, such as training records, incident records, and vehicle maintenance records, should also be retained for several years. Check the specific requirements in your state or territory and under the HVNL, as retention periods can vary by document type.
Get your transport WHS documents in order
Blue Safe Online provides ready-to-use WHS document systems for Australian transport businesses. Whether you are setting up a WHS and CoR system from scratch, responding to an audit, or updating outdated documents, the Blue Safe Online platform gives you access to professionally prepared WHS policies, CoR procedures, SWMS, fatigue management templates, registers, and more — tailored to the transport industry.
Browse transport WHS documents on Blue Safe Online
This guide provides general information only and does not replace legal advice or consultation with the relevant WHS regulator or the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR). WHS and CoR document requirements may vary by state or territory, the type of transport operations conducted, and the nature of your role in the supply chain.