Maintenance Management Accreditation
Heavy vehicle operator’s responsibilities for maintaining their vehicles
Maintenance Management Accreditation encourages heavy vehicle operators to take more responsibility for maintaining their vehicles correctly and ensuring that they are always in good mechanical condition.
It helps you to manage your business more efficiently, partly because you will have clear procedures to ensure that your vehicles are correctly maintained and partly because the risk of penalty for faulty vehicles or equipment will be reduced. It will lead to improved road safety. Better maintenance means fewer breakdowns and broken delivery deadlines.
The important thing is that you write down the system you intend to use and explain how it works. This will be your Maintenance Management System. To stay accredited, you need to have documents that prove your methods work and your vehicles are properly maintained with any faults observed, recorded and repaired as necessary. In part, this mans keeping your records of vehicle servicing and repairs. You must also be able to prove that you always follow your written procedures.
The performance standards have been developed to ensure that each operator in the scheme has properly maintained vehicles. Your Maintenance Management System must comply with the standards explained later in this Guide.
Remember, accreditation does not exempt you from the law. You can be audited at any time and your vehicles are subject to on-road checks to make sure you conform to the performance standards.
However, Maintenance Management Accreditation will ensure you receive preferential treatment from enforcement agencies. You will be required to undergo fewer on-road checks and when you do encounter a random check your vehicle will be dealt with as quickly as possible.
The Maintenance Management Accreditation stickers on your vehicles will identify them to inspectors.
What Audits Consist of
To qualify for accreditation, you must be audited by an independent auditor to verify that your record keeping and procedures ensure you can comply with the Maintenance Management Standards. This is called an On-Entry System Accreditation Audit.
You must also be audited at specific intervals after you qualify so your accreditation can be renewed. These are called Scheduled Compliance Audits, and they are to check you are doing what you said you would do.
The first scheduled Compliance Audit will be conducted six months after your accreditation. After that, scheduled Compliance Audits occur every two years.
The various CMPA checklists and documentation, such as operator checklists and the issue resolution form, could be used to cover standards 1 to 3. Other CMPA applications such as training and information regarding maintenance schedules could be applied to points in standards 4 to 8 where applicable.
Information supplied by VicRoads
www.vicroads.vic.gov.au
Standard 1: Daily Check
The Maintenance Management System must include a daily check for each vehicle when it is in use.
Standard 2: Fault Recording and Reporting
The Maintenance Management System must ensure that provision is made to record and report vehicle faults on both the hauling and trailing equipment.
Standard 3: Fault Repair
The Maintenance Management System provides for the identification, assessment and action on reported faults.
Standard 4: Maintenance Schedules and Methods
The Maintenance Management System must include periodic maintenance schedules, with identified service periods, that describe the tasks to be completed.
Standard 5: Records and Documentation
Documented evidence must be maintained to demonstrate the effective operation of the Maintenance Management System.
Standard 6: Responsibilities
The authorities, responsibilities and duties of all positions involved in the management, operation, administration, participation and verification of the Maintenance Management System are current, clearly defined and documented.
Standard 7: Internal Review
The Maintenance Management System must be subject to annual internal review to verify that all results and activities comply with the system’s policies, procedures and instructions.
Standard 8: Training and Education
The persons who hold a position of responsibility under the Maintenance Management System are trained in and familiar with the specific policy, procedure and instruction(s) they are to carry out.
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