Often abbreviated as CoR, Chain of Responsibility is a concept that aligns the legal obligations towards a party or parties of a supply chain during transport. This was devised towards establishing accountability during the transport of goods along the supply chain line. With Chain of Responsibility compliance, it factors who is accountable, looks at driver fatigue management, overall speed in transit, overloading and not to mention load restraint issues that may arise during the process.
The initially CoR was devised in the early 2000s, but in 2020 the Chain of Responsibility Policy was established. The Chain of Responsibility policy has procedures in place to factor safety protocols and system should they be needed. Now a national law, the Chain of Responsibility compliance looks at heavy vehicle safety accountability a shared responsibility across supply chain parties as opposed to just the driver.
Parties included in the Chain of Responsibility supply chain include the following;
- Driver’s employer
- Driver’s primary contractor
- Vehicle Operator and Scheduler
- Loading Manager
- Loaders and Unloaders of the intended Cargo, including the Packers of the Cargo as well
- Consignors and consignees of the goods being carried
Apart from the above, the duty of care with concern to the chain of responsibility also extends to other stakeholders in order for them to carry out their due diligence. These can include CEOs and Directors, managers, partners and corporations.
Due diligence under Chain of Responsibility is defined whereby executives in a company can be held accountable and personally liable should they fail to enact on due diligence towards the safety and chain of responsibility compliance. This means that the likes of the following needs to be maintained.
- Maintaining levels of safety and safe conduct within your company’s transportation of goods
- Understanding hazards and risks involved in transportation activities within your company
- Ensuring your company is making every effort to minimizing above mentioned hazards and risks
- Ensuring your company takes aims towards implementing processes to eliminate above mentioned hazards and risks along with being responsive to such information with timeliness