Managing driver fatigue: for holders of operator accreditation

If you operate a taxi or booked hire vehicle, please refer to personalised transport fatigue management for your specific obligations under the safety duty.

Fatigue is a state of physical or mental exhaustion that can impair a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely, and includes feeling sleepy, tired, drowsy, lacking energy, or exhibiting behaviours consistent with these conditions.

Fatigue is a significant safety risk that can affect the wellbeing of drivers, passengers, and other road users. As a fatigue-regulated duty holder, operators of road-based public passenger services must implement systems and practices to monitor and manage fatigue risks effectively. This includes maintaining accurate records and complying with reporting requirements.

Information and training to manage fatigue risks

Operators must ensure that drivers are educated about their responsibility to manage fatigue. Driver fatigue is addressed on the Driver authorisation responsibilities webpage and the topic must be included as outlined in the Driver training notice on the Operator accreditation responsibilities webpage.

As a passenger transport fatigue-regulated duty holder, you are responsible for providing sufficient information, training, and instruction to your drivers and other duty holders about managing driver fatigue. This includes educating them on:

• the risks of fatigue and how it affects the ability to drive safely
• practical strategies for managing fatigue, such as recognising early signs of tiredness and taking regular breaks
• actions they are required to take under your safety management plan to address fatigue risks proactively
• the primary duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure their own safety and the safety of others, and their shared responsibility in managing fatigue risks
• the obligation to provide factual and accurate information about fatigue for record keeping purposes.

Refer to the following resources for information and strategies to share with drivers to help them recognise warning signs and avoid driver fatigue:

• Driving tired | Transport and motoring | Queensland Government
• Driving tired | StreetSmarts - Queensland Government
• National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s website.

Taking action to reduce the risk of fatigue

Driver fatigue is a common hazard that should be addressed in your safety management plan, as outlined on the Safety management plans for road-based public passenger services webpage.

As a fatigue-regulated duty holder, you must implement practices to ensure drivers are not fatigued before assigning them to shifts. This includes, but is not limited to:

• actively monitoring driver fatigue during operations, such as observing drivers at the start of their shifts
• developing processes to identify and address fatigue risks proactively
• reinforcing the importance of reporting fatigue-related concerns to management
• ongoing education for drivers and other duty holders about the practices they must follow to monitor and manage fatigue risks proactively.

Additional resources for managing and identifying driver fatigue on the Safe Work Australia website. Visit the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s website for more information about managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue.

Fatigue record keeping for HVNL fatigue-regulated passenger transport vehicles

For operators of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles, fatigue management requirements are governed by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL). Refer to the Heavy vehicle fatigue management - bus industry webpage for further information.

Under HVNL, fatigue-regulated bus is a heavy motor vehicle that:

• is built or fitted to carry more than 12 adults (including the driver)
• weighs more than 4.5 tonne.

Under passenger transport legislation, a HVNL fatigue-regulated duty holders must:

• ensure all records about fatigue required under HVNL, are readily available for submission to us on request. For example:
  • a record kept under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), chapter 6, part 6.4, division 3 relating to how information must be recorded in work diary.
• comply with any written notice issued by the department within 28 days of receiving the notice.

For further information about your record-keeping requirements under passenger transport legislation, refer to the Record keeping and audit requirements on the Operator accreditation responsibilities webpage.

Fatigue record keeping for passenger transport vehicles not regulated under HNVL

This section applies to any vehicle used to provide a relevant service that is not fatigue-regulated under HVNL. This includes:

• using a vehicle that is 4.5 tonne or less
• using a heavy vehicle over 4.5 tonne, if it is built or fitted to carry less than 12 adults (including the driver).

As a fatigue-regulated duty holder under passenger transport legislation, you must keep the following written records for two years after the day the driver drove or was available to drive:

• the driver’s driver authorisation number
• the days and times the driver is driving or available to driver, the motor vehicle used to provide the service.

While passenger transport legislation does not prescribe specific work or rest hour limits for drivers of vehicles that are not fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles, operators are encouraged to adopt best practices. This includes tracking driver work hours and rest periods to monitor fatigue risks effectively.

For further details about meeting your record-keeping requirements under passenger transport legislation, refer to the Record keeping and audit requirements on the Operator accreditation responsibilities webpage.

Providing accurate fatigue information

It is an offence to provide false, misleading, or incomplete information to a fatigue-regulated duty holder responsible for keeping records. This includes:

• providing incorrect driver authorisation numbers
• falsifying or omitting information about the days and times a driver was driving or available to drive
• misrepresenting a driver’s fitness to operate a vehicle.

Operators must ensure that drivers and other relevant parties understand this obligation and the penalties for non-compliance.

Providing fatigue records on request

We may issue a written notice requiring you to provide:

• the information you have recorded (e.g., driver authorisation numbers and availability).
• records kept under another safety law, such as the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), about managing driver fatigue.

You must comply with this requirement within 28 days of receiving the notice.

References

Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994

• Section 67H: Definition of fatigue.
• Section 67L: Principle of shared responsibility.
• Section 67O: Primary duty of care of drivers.
• Section 67Y: Regulation may impose requirements for training drivers and other duty holders about managing driver fatigue.

Read the full PT Act on the Queensland Legislation website.

Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Regulation 2018

• Section 18J: Driver training requirements, including introductory and supplementary training.
• Section 77C: Fatigue management information for operators.
• Section 77D: Fatigue management records for heavy vehicles under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.
• Section 77E: False or misleading fatigue management information.
• Section 226: Records of vehicle use, including driver details.
• Section 227: Retention of restricted driver authorisation records (community and courtesy services).

Read the full PT Regulation on the Queensland Legislation website.

Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland)

• Chapter 6, Part 6.4, Division 3: Fatigue management records for heavy vehicles.

Read the full HVNL (Qld) on the  Queensland Legislation website.