Construction Logistics and Community Safety — Australia (CLOCS-A) is a national voluntary Standard developed with the primary aim of better managing potential hazards created by road transport and logistics activities associated with large construction projects. The Standard has been collaboratively developed by representatives from industry, government, researchers and community associations and funded by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, supported by the Federal Government.
The aim of CLOCS-A is to reduce the risk of road trauma involving construction vehicles while improving the efficiency and productivity of logistics. Australian governments have committed to an expected $290 billion in public infrastructure investment over the next 10 years. Most of these projects will be in highly populated urban areas, presenting hazards for the public and particularly Vulnerable Road Users (VRU).
There have been a number of VRU fatalities involving construction vehicles over the past decade, with coronial inquests consistently recommending a systems-based approach to avoiding future similar incidents. The systems approach of the CLOCS-A Standard is designed on safer drivers, safe vehicles, safe logistics, and community engagement and awareness of safe interactions with trucks integrated as a contract requirement to operate on major infrastructure projects. As a result, the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) has been championing the adaption of Transport for London (TfL)’s Construction Logistics and Community Safety (CLOCS) to Australia since 2016.
Government buy-in in Australia has been driven by the largest public infrastructure construction projects, Sydney Metro and Melbourne Metro, which both reference components of CLOCS in their contract standards. The Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria Road Safety Action Plans also include CLOCS-A as direct actions, signalling to industry that CLOCS-A will soon be an operational requirement to deliver any government-funded infrastructure project.
The foundation of adapting CLOCS-A locally was ensuring strong and diverse leadership, all bound together by a common vision and objective. NRSPP achieved this by developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a Steering Group and Supporting Partners, who would champion and lead development. A crucial signatory to the MoU was TfL, providing a direct conduit into the development and operational delivery of their CLOCS program.
The project delivered the CLOCS-A Standard with supporting tools, fact sheets, posters, case studies and guidance, a sustainable operational model, charter, audit framework, and transferal from NRSPP to a third party to finalise development and delivery. The third party was identified through a competitive Expression of Interest process, with the Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport Australia (CILTA) selected.
CLOCS-A was officially handed over to CILTA on 10 July 2023 by a Transfer of Deed facilitated by Monash University. The transfer included seed funding of $300,000 plus GST provided by the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, Queensland Transport and Main Roads, Transport for NSW and Sydney Metro.