Review Safety management for heavy vehicle transport: A review of the literature Lori Mooren a,⇑ , Raphael Grzebieta a , Ann Williamson a , Jake Olivier b , Rena Friswell a a Transport and Road Safety Research, University of New South Wales, Australia b School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales, Australia article info Article history: Received 25 January 2013 Received in revised form 3 July 2013 Accepted 5 August 2013 Keywords: Heavy vehicle transport Injury outcomes Safety management system Crash outcome abstract This paper reviews the literature concerning safety management interventions, that have been effective in reducing injury outcomes in occupational health and safety (OHS) and road safety, and assesses their applicability to reducing crash and injury outcomes in heavy vehicle transport. There was little robust empirical research in the heavy vehicle transport sector providing evidence of effective safety manage- ment characteristics that reduced crashes and injuries. The research on safety management practices, safety culture and injury risk assessment in other areas of transport and OHS purported to directly influ- ence crash and/or injury outcomes was also assessed as well as those that influenced some measure of safety improvement. The operational and management characteristics that were associated with reduced crash and injury risk included: safety training, management commitment, scheduling or journey plan- ning, size of organisation or freight type, worker participation, incentives and safety or return to work policies. Other characteristics that might be associated with lower incident and injury rates were risk analysis/corrective actions, prior safety violations, crashes or incidents, vehicle conditions or physical work environment, vehicle technologies, recruitment and retention, pay and remuneration systems, com- munications/support, safety or quality management accreditation, financial performance, and worker characteristics and attitudes. The review also highlighted gaps in the literature requiring further research. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 79 2. Methods ............................................................................................................. 80 3. Results............................................................................................................... 81 3.1. Studies of organisational characteristics and safety results at organisational level ............................................ 81 3.2. Studies of organisational and personal characteristics and safety results at individual employee level ............................ 81 3.3. Studies of the effects of organisational interventions on safety outcomes ................................................... 83 3.4. Summary of results ............................................................................................... 83 4. Discussion ............................................................................................................ 86 5. Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 88 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 88 References ........................................................................................................... 88 1. Introduction Heavy trucks are over-represented in fatal and serious road crashes in many countries. For example, heavy trucks in the United States (US) make up 3% of all registered vehicles, and account for 0925-7535/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.08.001 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Transport and Road Safety Research (TARS), University of New South Wales, Level 1, Old Main Building West, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 9385 5666, mobile: +61 412 888 290; fax: +61 2 9385 6040. E-mail address: lori.mooren@unsw.edu.au (L. Mooren). Safety Science 62 (2014) 79–89 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Safety Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssci