FLEET SAFETY IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
WORDS BY NZ BRAKES
There were 54 work related fatalities on our roads last year . There were also 4,477 serious Workers Compensation claims in the Road Transport industry last year , with a median cost of $ 23,307 per claim . 1 However , the social and economic costs of all road crashes in Australia are estimated to be more than $ 30 billion each year , according to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics2 .
All organisations have a duty of care towards their employees , including those who drive on work purposes . New Zealand ’ s Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 ( HASWA ) recognises the vehicle as a workplace , and places health and safety duties on employers for the safety of drivers and vehicles .
New Zealand also has the Zero Carbon Act , working towards our commitment to the Paris Agreement and net zero emissions by 2050 . This has resulted in a significant transition towards electric vehicles , both for businesses and the public .
As of September 2023 , there are almost 63,000 fully electric light vehicles , and a further 26,000 plug-in hybrids . So far in 2023 , almost 1 in 4 new cars registered in NZ are battery-electric or plugin hybrid . ( Source Ministry of Transport / EVDB . nz )
16 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 2023 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU