Dangerous repairs on heavy goods vehicles

AHVRA, the Australian Heavy Vehicle Repair Association, is concerned that unqualified and under-equipped repairers working on heavy vehicles could be endangering lives.
An AHVRA spokesperson said its members took their responsibility very seriously in regards to health and safety and environmental issues.
“There are many repairs undertaken on heavy vehicles in panel beaters without the necessary specialised equipment, such as large spray booths and machines to check chassis integrity and crack testing,” the spokesperson said. “That also means spraying out in the open with the environmental hazards associated with that, as well as structural damage going undetected.
“We will continue to work with relevant bodies such as government agencies, the RTA, the Office of Fair Trading and the insurance industry to address these issues.”
AVHRA maintains that insurance assessors are authorising work to panel shops that don't specialise in heavy goods vehicles, and have written to the Insurance Council of Australia about this matter. The council replied that it was unaware of such practices.
“It is the worst instance of corporate greed and disregarding worker safety, environmental and public safety, and appears to be a total misunderstanding of lawful requirements,” the spokesperson continued.
“It’s not realistic to expect repairers to spy and rat on each other as a means of stopping these dangerous working practices. What we are asking is that a firm direction is presented to all insurance companies to discontinue this dangerous process.”
Chris Dalton of Insurance Brokers Australia said insurers were trying to keep the bottom line black. “It’s a small market and a very competitive one,” said Dalton. “It might be that assessors are poorly trained or that insurance companies are using assessing contractors, who in turn are keeping their costs down – which might mean too few assessors or poorly trained ones. Occasionally someone drops the ball.
“If you insure through a broking company, the broker will be able to oversee claims to ensure the vehicle is properly assessed and repaired. If there is good process between the broker, assessor, repairer and insurer, then 95 per cent of repairs will be carried out correctly and those that aren't will be rectified.”