LCV safety an OH&S issue – ANCAP
August 11, 2009 by David Twomey
Australia’s vehicle safety watchdog, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has taken up the battle for better vehicle safety for the thousands of people who use light commercial vans as their work place.
ANCAP has called on major companies and fleet managers to examine State and Federal Occupational Health and Safety legislation to ensure they are providing a safe workplace in the LCVs they buy for employees.
Following the release of star safety ratings for a number of light commercial vehicles, ANCAP has voiced concerns that occupants of some vans are at a higher risk of serious injury in accidents than the safer-rated models.
ANCAP recently gave the Hyundai iLoad and iMax vans a four-star rating and the only other similar vehicles in Australia to have a four star rating are the Mercedes-Benz Vito and the Volkswagen Transporter and Caddy.
The top selling LCV van, the Toyota HiAce, has only a three star rating.
ANCAP Chair, Lauchlan McIntosh, said today that OH&S legislation clearly stipulates the responsibility of employers to ensure a safe working environment for employees.
“ANCAP has rated nine of these light commercial vans and to date we have not had one with the top five-star rating, some recording a safety rating as low as one star,” Mr McIntosh said.
“Light commercial vehicles don’t have to meet the same Australian vehicle safety regulations as cars, and this shows up in ANCAP rating results.
“Real-world accident statistics show the risk of serious or fatal injury is halved in a four or five star vehicle compared with a one or two star rated vehicle – this means that one in every two fatalities in a poorly performing van could be prevented if the occupant had been in a four or five star vehicle.
“Given the wide disparity in ANCAP results for commercial vehicles, it is no longer sufficient to use compliance with these regulations as a benchmark for safety.
“Clearly some vehicles are much safer than others and, in the event of a serious crash, fleet managers may have to justify why they did not choose a model with a higher safety rating if they decide to ignore the ANCAP safety ratings and purchase a model with a poor rating.
“We are concerned for the safety of drivers and passengers of these vehicles in the event of a collision and we believe there may be a point in law for ensuring these vehicles are safe for workers and, indeed, all road users.
“Our understanding of the OH&S principles is that there is an obligation on companies and fleet managers to ensure a safe workplace.
“Vans certainly constitute a workplace under the legal definition. We would urge fleet purchasers to examine the legislation and then factor safety into their fleet purchasing policies,” Mr McIntosh said.
For a full list of ANCAP’s vehicle safety ratings, including more commercial vehicles, and other vehicle safety information, go to www.ancap.com.au
All Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, all Australian state governments, the New Zealand government, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation, support ANCAP.
The Volkswagen, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz vans illustrated in this story all have a four-star ANCAP rating, the Toyota HiAce van has a three-star rating.
Print it: 
Which van was the one star? That ancient mitsubishi that they still sell? Good on ANCAP for pushing this. The poor buggers that have to drive around in these things all day probably get zero say in what they drive, yet are far more likely to be involved in a prang simply because of the amount of time they are required to spend behind the wheel.
If four star vehicles are available, there’s no excuse to buy a one star piece of crud. Big ups to Hyundai for the performance of their van.
One star? So what? What is matter? Safe driving is the most important factor in terms of avoiding or preventing accident…
The person who buys Hiace over iload is must be insane..I had a test drive both car…iload is miles miles better in very aspects…Most importantly iload is cheaper, safer, providing much longer warranty and incurs much less running cost…
Matter is head hitting windscreen and breaking in half.
I hope you are simply trolling. Otherwise, I hope you can control the actions of other drivers on the road. I know I can’t. Also, who’s to say you won’t fall asleep at the wheel and crash into my car on the single lane section of the pacific highway? At least I will be driving my 4 star car should that happen.
Fool.
Philthy – that’d be a big thumbs up to Hyundai AND VW and Mercedes, would it not?
Nothanks – I have driven extensively in VW and HiAce and the VW wins hands down. I have yet to drive the iload but on paper looks pretty good!
It’s about time safety regs. for commercial vehicles were updated.
Yeah, fair point Pete. I was thinking in the context of the other two being maybe a bit more expensive than the hyundai. I started to make a comment about another certain brand mentioned in the article who scored 3 stars, but edited that out not wanting to start the usual flame war.
Philthy, I know what you mean. I almost deleted my VW/HiAce comment but in the end thought it pertinent.
I’m looking forward to trying the iload as I’m looking at buying a van to convert to a camper. I don’t know how the structure will cope with hacking off the roof … but time will tell.
One star ? So what? What’s the matter ? Why not ban riding bike or motor bike? What is their rating? May be 0.000000000000000000001 star ? I say again SAFE DRIVING is the most critical factor in terms of avoiding or preventing accident…Of course, Safe Driving includes the defensive driving in that, if you guys perform the defensive driving efficiently, you barely will get involve with accident…
Nothanks, are you sure you’re not a spy from one of the Chinese automobile manufacturers?
Your grammar and lack of concern regarding 1-star crash ratings indicates that you might be!
Joe, previous name he posted under was “chinese driver” so probably yes.
Joe/ Spy? Ha Ha Ha…No, I am not…You should know that so-called safe car such as 5 star rating car might lead or make drivers to drive their car dangerously or recklessly, because they might think that their cars are virtually injury proof. Consequently, it could cause an accident.
I really don’t think Australian’s are that stupid.
Joe/ According to some stastics, small car (relatively unsafe car) drivers tend to slow down (not speeding) compared to bigger car (relatively safe car) drivers.. Want to know more?
No, not really… because you’re trying to justify to everyone why the ANCAP crash ratings shouldn’t count, and I don’t agree with it.
Go on Youtube and look up some crash tests, maybe it’ll change your mind somewhat
P.S. not all accidents are caused by the person driving their own vehicle, some are the fault of someone else. How can we stop these? We can’t, and thats why cars need to be safe in accidents.
This ruling is long overdue. Workplace safety (or OHS as it is often known) is taken extremely seriously these days, as it should be.
If I were a van driver wit a company for a long time, driving a Vito or a VW van (they are the same thing basically) and the boss decided to cheapskate and force me into a Mitsubishi Express or Toyota van, I would be seriously unhappy.
If that led to an accident and caused me injury, I would sue the employer for everything possible, for it would be largely his fault. I know I could resign, but most people who are van drivers wouldn’t.
Same scenario applies to commercial utes, some of which (Toyota LC ute and Troopy) you cannot even buy airbags if you wanted to.
^^ What are “stastics”. Are they simple numbers for spastics like “Nothanks”?
Joe// Of course, the safety (crash) rating is important…My point is that SAFE DRIVING is much more critical or important than the safety rating in order to prevent or avoid an accident (Injury and Death).
Really, the only unsafe van i can think of is the Mitusbishi L300 Express.
How many if any stars is it in ANCAP rating?
God, that has been around since i was a little kid.
Tough and long lasting though.
Most foward control vans are never going to be as safe as a car, no crumple zone, some are better, the Express van would not be a choice to crash in
I know most people who buy vans do so for the practicality, but I’m betting there is a large market for vans with a little bit of style. You would have thought the Euros would have figured this out by now, but with examples like the Fiat Ducato and the Volkswagen Transporter, it would seem not.
The OHS issues are not so simple as to be safe or unsafe particularly when one looks closely at the work-related activities associated with a work vehicle. The OHS regulators have only recently begun to apply themselves to the reality of work vehicle, as opposed to the transport vehicle.
More from the OHS angle is available at http://safetyatworkblog.wordpr.....laces-too/
Same goes for utes such as BT-50 ,Ranger, Hilux, Rodeo, Triton etc…. Those are light years behind in passive and active safety.
For buyers of vans the issue is not just as simple as buying a van with a 4 star safety rating. the 3 manufacturers of the 4 star models do not cover all configurations of vans. The iLoad is only available in one body style, there is no LWB model, The VWs are only available as front wheel drive unless you spend well over 40K for a 4motion. The Vito van s are all Automatics with the exception of the base model 65/70kW diesel. Basicall y if you want a LWB (2.9 to 3 meter load length) Petrol RWD with a manual transmission you have no choice but to buy a 3 star Hiace.
Safety in the road is very important, just like at work. Implementing this actions whenever you buy vehicles is a must.