PAS 43:2018 Safe working of vehicle breakdown, recovery and removal operations Management system specification
In its on-going drive to improve safety for motorists and roadside operatives, SURVIVE - the partnership between the Highways England, the National Police Chief's Council Association (NPCC), the breakdown and recovery industry and other road service providers - has further developed the standard PAS 43 Safe Working of Vehicle Breakdown, Recovery and Removal Operations – Management system specification from BSI.
It is important that Operators take responsibility for their actions and the actions of their employees. By adhering to this latest version of this Publicly Available Specification (PAS), Operators can help ensure they are compliant and consistent in the way that they work.
Some important changes contained within PAS 43:2018 include :-
- Clarity over the definition used for competent trainer and competent person.
- In Annex C, the vehicle equipment tables have been aligned better to the varied fleet in use today within the industry.
- Any normative requirements (must do) have been moved to either Clause 10 'Technician Requirements' or Clause 11 'Training Competence and Behaviour of Road Recovery Technicians.
- Removal of duplications between the SURVIVE Best Practice Guidelines and PAS 43:2018.
- An improved explanation of what training each technician must receive. The requirement within PAS 43 for induction training is to either a) attend VR modules - VR01 (Basic Health a and Safety), VR02 (Customer Service), and VR03 (Assess the Roadside situation - dynamic risk assessment) or b) document a clear link between other induction training programmes and ongoing assessments to the National Occupational Standards.
Rob Gifford, Chairman of the SURVIVE Executive said, “SURVIVE continues to make important inroads into improving the safety of those working at the roadside and the motoring public. Through PAS 43 we can ensure common codes of practice, which are paramount to developing high standards of operation, are communicated and adhered to across the industry.
“It is a measure of the success of PAS 43 that the 2018 edition continues to recognise that the PAS has being adopted outside the UK and therefore makes provision for equivalent international standards to those British Standards referenced.”
“The considerable – and intensely practical – progress made in the last 16 years demonstrates the continued commitment of the SURVIVE Group and we look forward to further developments in the years to come.”
The requirements within PAS 43 have been agreed by the major organisations within the breakdown and recovery industry with valued input and support from the Highways England, the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC), BSI and various Government agencies.
PAS 43:2018 is intended to be read, and used, in conjunction with the current version of the SURVIVE Best Practice Guidelines. The primary objective of the Best Practice Guidelines is to help ensure the safety of ball concerned, whilst technicians are working on breakdowns, recoveries or removals on all types of roads. The Best Practice Guidelines are not intended to replace PAS 43, but are to be seen as complementary to it.
A copy of PAS 43: 2018 can be obtained from BSI (http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030371092.).
If you would like to read more about the changes and the difference contained within PAS 43:2018 Safe working of vehicle breakdown, recovery and removal operations from the 2015 version, please download the PDF file below.