The trucking industry has welcomed the appointment of Carolyn Walsh as the chair of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s Fatigue Expert Reference Group.

The NHVR announced the members of the reference group today.

The Chief Executive of the Australian Trucking Association, Stuart St Clair, said Carolyn Walsh would bring enormous experience to the role.

“Carolyn has more than 25 years of experience in policy development, regulation and safety management, including ten years of experience in the transport sector,” Mr St Clair said.

“She is the Deputy Chair of the National Transport Commission and a Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Australian Government body responsible for investigating aviation, rail and marine accidents.

“The ATA has long argued that the road transport sector needs to draw more on the safety expertise of the ATSB, which is recognised internationally as a leading safety investigator. Carolyn’s appointment as chair of the reference group is an important step in that direction,” he said.

Mr St Clair said the NHVR should appoint an experienced Advanced Fatigue Management (AFM) operator to the reference group to balance its academic members.

“Apart from Carolyn Walsh, the members of the reference group are all academic experts in sleep science. What the group also needs is an industry representative with experience operating under AFM who can provide them with real world input,” he said.

The Fatigue Expert Reference Group is an advisory body that will support the NHVR in deciding applications from trucking operators for AFM accreditation. FERG will also provide advice to the NHVR about fatigue science.