WA taxi and omnibus drivers subject to OSH laws

Western Australians driving passenger transport vehicles, including taxi and omnibus drivers, are now subject to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Regulations, according to WorkSafe WA.

This includes the fatigue management and medical fitness to drive provisions of ‘Part 3, Division 10 — Driving Commercial Vehicles’ of the OHS Regulations.

It comes after the WA Government redefined ‘commercial vehicle’ in regulation 3.130 of the OSH Amendment Regulations (No.2) 2019 in June to include passenger transport vehicles, which are defined in the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 (the TRPS Act) as any vehicle that is used or intended to be used to transport passengers for hire or reward.

School buses, mobile plants and motor vehicles with a GVM over 4.5 tonnes that are designed to carry or are carrying a large integrated piece of equipment or goods for hire or reward are still considered commercial vehicles.

Guidance material relating to fatigue management for commercial vehicle drivers is already available on WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety’s (DMIRS) website, including:

• Guidance material on fatigue management for commercial vehicle driver
• Amended OSH regulations
   

The passenger transport industry can access these materials to support their transition to the new OSH regulations’ requirements.

More information can be found via the WorkSafe WA website.

Any questions related to OSH matters can be directed to the DMIRS via phone on 08 6251 2200 or by email at wscallcentre@dmirs.wa.gov.au.

For queries related to the Department of Transport’s recent legislative changes, contact On-demand transport by telephone on 1300 660 147 or by email at ondemandtransport@transport.wa.gov.au.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Christian Müller