Safety driven

BHP won some fans, and surprisingly, created a few enemies with the company’s plans to improve vehicle safety on their mine sites, writes Andrew David.

Last year BHP announced that from January 2016, only Five Star ANCAP rated light vehicles would be allowed on their mine sites, not just in Australia, but worldwide.

The new policy applies to BHP’s own vehicles as well as contractor-owned light vehicles, and new vehicles brought into service from January this year onwards must comply.

Bull bars, roll over protection and aftermarket suspension kits that are not ANCAP compliant have also been banned under the new policy.

Some of Australia’s top selling light commercial vehicles – Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, and Mitsubishi Triton, do not currently hold a 5 Star ANCAP rating. All three companies are said to be hard at work ensuring their 2013/2014 models meet the 5 star standard.

At the time of the announcement a BHP spokesperson said, “We work actively with the road safety industry and key vehicle manufactures to ensure the most relevant safety technologies are adopted globally. Our decision to move to the highest NCAP safety rating will, by 2016, improve the safety rating of an estimated 50,000 vehicles a year in Australia alone, resulting in broad community benefits as safer vehicles appear on the road.”

Chief Executive Officer of ANCAP (The Australasian New Car Assessment Program), Nicholas Clarke, understandably welcomed the news saying the move would encourage vehicle manufacturers to incorporate much higher levels of safety into their design of light vehicles.

“We’re extremely pleased to hear that BHP Billiton has managed to implement a policy for maximum vehicle safety – not just in Australia, but worldwide across its fleet,” Clarke said.

“They’ve also pushed that one step further applying the minimum 5 star requirement across both passenger and light commercial vehicles.”

“This announcement will serve as added impetus for manufacturers to include higher levels of safety not only in passenger vehicles but in particular the light commercial market segment which is lagging behind in terms of safety implementation.”

“This demonstrates the supporting influence big business can have on manufacturers and we encourage other businesses, large and small, to consider adopting a similar policy,” Clarke said.

“With one third of compensable work related fatalities involving a vehicle, vehicle safety is paramount in protecting our employees, and investing in safer vehicles is an investment in the safety of these employees.”

The Australasian Fleet Management Association (AfMA) also commended BHP on their new policy touting it as an example of how fleet managers, particularly of large organisations, can help set the agenda in making road transport in Australia safer.

“Currently vehicles are only required to meet Australian Design Rules (ADR’s) before they can be sold in Australia. Unfortunately there is little connection between ADR compliance and results of safety crash tests. There are vehicles for sale in the Australian market that have rated as low as two stars in an ANCAP test,” an AfMA spokesperson said.

“… In a 60 kilometre per hour offset crash, one of the standard ANCAP tests, occupants in a 5 star vehicle are likely to suffer slight injury. In a 2 star rated vehicle however, serious injury will be the most likely outcome.”

The majority of new vehicles coming into the Australian and New Zealand markets now hold either a 4 or 5 Star ANCAP safety rating, however older vehicles currently in use may not reach the same level of safety. As a result, some in the industry are concerned that aftermarket products such as bull bars and roll over protection cannot be retro-fitted under BHP’s new policy.

This is of particular concern to mine contractors and mine services companies, currently struggling under the resources downturn. The cost of upgrading an entire fleet of vehicles to the latest model has the potential to send some businesses to the wall.

Spokesperson for the 4WD Industry Council (4WDIC) Stuart Charity, said his organisation strongly supports the drive to improve vehicle occupant safety on and around mine sites, but he was disappointed by the lack of consultation.

“On the surface, most people would view the BHP policy as a great step forward. However, the 4WDIC is disappointed at the lack of consultation and the ‘one size fits all’ policy outcome,” Charity said.

“Australia has a large and innovative 4WD aftermarket industry. It offers a wide range of Australian Design Rule (ADR) approved products designed to protect vehicles and occupants in our hostile remote regions.

“Among those proven products are bull bars, suspension enhancements for additional load bearing capacity and roll over protection systems. The BHP policy takes little from the aftermarket industry’s extensive knowledge and experience in engineering vehicles to suit their intended end use.

“The 4WDIC believes this ban will result in vehicles that are less safe on public roads and in remote areas.”

“The 4WDIC questions the BHP policy because the research and testing used to benchmark its new ‘standard’ was limited and because it has a narrow interpretation of occupant safety. The only data offered to support the policy relate to the well-known benefits of electronic stability control and curtain airbags, as well as the interpreted results of limited crash and roll over tests conducted on four one tonne utes from the BHP fleet by Crashlab in Sydney.

“We understand these tests were conducted two months after BHP Billiton made its policy announcement and to date BHP have failed to release the engineering data from these tests as they had originally committed to do.

“While the 4WDIC supports the move to ANCAP Five Star ratings for mining vehicles, we see no need to ban the fitment of safety equipment that does not adversely affect compliance with mandatory vehicle standards and does not reduce the safety performance of the vehicle. The 4WDIC believes this ban will result in vehicles that are less safe on public roads in remote areas,” Charity said.

Charity is also concerned that ANCAP testing does not take into account vehicle safety in the event of hitting animals, such as kangaroos; an all too common event in Australia’s rural and remote regions.

Charity said he believes bull bars are extremely valuable, not only in terms of the physical safety provided in a collision with an animal, but in preventing ‘swerve to miss the animal’ incidents.

“Often, drivers of non-bull bar equipped vehicles will take sudden evasive action, swerving to miss a large animal. Unfortunately this can result in a far worse outcome than had there been an initial collision with the animal,” Charity said.

According to 4WDIC, analysis of New South Wales accident data reveals that within the state from 2001 to 2005 there were 11 fatal crashes, 1399 injury crashes, and 2532 noncasualty crashes attributed to swerving to avoid hitting an animal. Additionally during the same five year period there were 14 fatal crashes, 716 injury crashes, and 1751 non-injury crashes where an animal was the initial object hit.

A Rural and Remote Area Road Safety Study conducted from March 2004 to June 2007 in Northern Queensland reported a total of 532 serious road crashes, resulting in 600 human casualties: 29 (3 fatal and 26 hospitalised) where animals were involved.

4WDIC also claims that research has shown that up to 74% of people who have encountered an animal strike collision believed that if their bull bar had not been fitted they would have had to swerve or take other evasive action.

“Since this policy announcement, we have met with ANCAP to encourage the integration of proven aftermarket equipment technologies to improve the safety of vehicles and occupants working in the mining industry”, Charity said.

“Last year BHP announced that from January 2016, only Five Star ANCAP rated light vehicles would be allowed on their mine sites, not just in Australia, but worldwide.”

HOW THE RATINGS WORK

To achieve a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating, a vehicle must perform well in each of the physical tests:

Frontal offset test – simulates hitting another car of the same mass travelling at the same speed – maximum 16 points. Minimum of 12.5 points required in this test to be eligible for a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

Side impact test – simulates two cars colliding at 90 degrees – maximum 16 points. Minimum of 12.5 points required in this test to be eligible for a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

Pole test – simulates a car colliding sideways with a fixed object such as a tree or a pole – maximum 2 points (only available where vehicles are fitted with head protecting side airbags). Minimum of 1 point required in this test to be eligible for a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

Pedestrian test – simulates a collision between a car and a pedestrian. Minimum score of ‘Marginal’ required in this test to be eligible for a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

Whiplash test – assesses the performance of the seat and head restraint in protecting the occupant from neck and spinal injury through dynamic performance and geometric measurements. Minimum score of ‘Acceptable’ required in this test to be eligible for a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

A 5 STAR ANCAP RATED VEHICLE MUST ALSO BE FITTED WITH:

• electronic stability control (ESC)
• 3-point seat belts for all forward facing seats
• head-protecting technology (side airbags) for front seats
• seat belt reminders for front seats
• emergency brake assist (EBA)
• 3 x additional SAT (such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control (ACC) or blind spot monitoring (BSM).

From next year, roof crush strength testing will also be added as part of the ANCAP crash testing process. From 1 January 2014, vehicles tested by ANCAP (passenger, SUV and light commercial) will require a ‘Marginal’ roof strength rating in order to achieve a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.

BY 2017, A 5 STAR ANCAP SAFETY RATING WILL ALSO REQUIRE:

• HPT for rear seats
• Seat Belt Reminders (SBR) for all fixed seating positions
• Emergency Brake Assist (EBA)
• Top tether anchorages (TT) for child restraints
• Additional SAT may be selected from a range of existing and emerging technologies.

“In a 60 kilometre per hour offset crash, one of the standard ANCAP tests, occupants in a 5 star vehicle are likely to suffer slight injury. In a 2 star rated vehicle however, serious injury will be the most likely outcome.”

5 STAR VEHICLES
WHO MAKES THE GRADE?

Light commercial vehicles currently available in the Australian market that have achieved a 5 Star ANCAP rating include:

• Holden Commodore VF utilities
• Holden Commodore VE Omega utilities
• Holden Colorado crew dual cab
• Ford Falcon Styleside box utilities
• Mazda BT-50
• Ford Rangers
• Volkswagen Amarok dual cab

For more information on all ANCAP rated vehicles visit www.ancap.com.au.

PROFILE

WHO IS ANCAP?

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) provides consumers with independent and transparent advice and information on the level of occupant protection provided by vehicles in serious front and side crashes.

Since 1993, ANCAP has published crash test results for over 400 vehicles. These vehicles are awarded star ratings indicating the level of safety they provide in the event of an accident. The higher the ANCAP star rating the better the vehicle performed in the tests. ANCAP recommends that consumers only buy ANCAP 5 Star rated vehicles.

ANCAP IS SUPPORTED BY:

• Australian and New Zealand automobile clubs
• Australian and New Zealand governments
• Australian State and Territory governments
• Victorian Transport Accident Commission
• NRMA Insurance
• FIA Foundation (UK).