Trucksales Safety Award 2023: The Winner

Safety is one of the biggest issues in our industry and it is being handled in many and varied ways.

Sure, there are active and passive safety systems in trucks and there are rules and regulations that keep our drivers and other road users safe. But one of the biggest areas where we can address safety in the transport industry is education for the future systems that are knocking on the transport industry’s door right now.

This year the Trucksales Safety Award recognises the foresight Scania has put in to preparing all levels of its business to deal safely with battery electric vehicle (BEV) systems and components, which are soon to be a part of its future product line-up.

The training involves all staff from cleaning contractors to the executive management team, and is naturally focussed on ensuring there are no incidents involving electrical shocks at its company-owned workshops, and those throughout its authorised independent dealer network.

“Scania Australia is delighted to have been recognised by Trucksales.com.au for its EV safety programme. This Safety Award means a lot to us,” said Manfred Streit, Scania Australia’s Managing Director.

“We believe it is vital for the wellbeing of all technicians involved in the service and maintenance of EVs that there is a high degree of education and training across the workshop to avoid any mistakes because they could be fatal,” he added.

“We thank Trucksales.com.au for helping us to broadcast the need for EV workshop safety training and in-service safety compliance across the repair industry,” Mr Streit continued.

“The training we have undertaken and continue to undertake ensures everyone knows how to be safe around batteries and BEVs in general.

“We want to be seen as a leader in creating a zero-injury working environment in the BEV era.”

Jason Grech, Product Support and Service Introductions Manager, led the training roll-out, assisted by Kris Ross-Soden, Scania’s National Voltage Class B Technical Specialist.

Jason said that Scania is now ready to deliver, service and maintain BEVs. There are already several Scania electric-hybrid buses in operation around the country, and the first full battery-electric bus chassis have arrived. There are also a number of battery-electric trucks in Australia for evaluation, and we are told that customers can order a battery-electric truck now.

“We established the Scania Australia electrical organisation, mapped local legislation and WorkSafe standards and worked with the national parts team to secure supply and recycling of spare parts and propulsion batteries,” said Mr Grech.

“We are installing BEV-specific workshop gantries complete with gates and warning signs and insulated wheels, and have established PPE, tools, tool board, and trollies specifically for use with BEV systems.

“This equipment has been adapted to suit Australian standards and will be provided as full kits to our workshops when they are certified to work on BEV trucks and buses. Certification requires process, equipment, and training to align with the national framework, which includes level 1 to 4 electrical training, and Law and Safety for workshop managers.

Related reading:
Scania 25 P electric: Quickspin
Scania electric heavy tipper testing in Swedish mine
Trucksales Innovation Award 2023: The Winner

“We aim to have all Scania-owned and selected independent dealer workshops BEV certified and trained up as soon as possible.

“Scania’s vehicle onboard safety systems are highly detailed and engineered in from the start and are designed to avoid voltage leakage, and we will be training rescue services as well to be able to deal with our vehicles at accident scenes out on the roads,” he concluded.