The temporary audit report registration and accreditation exemption process has been introduced to assist road authorities in regional Western Australia to retain and develop road safety audit skills, experience and resources following the review of the road safety audit accreditation requirements conducted in 2015/16.
Regional road authorities can apply for an exemption of up to 18 months to enable organisations to ensure existing audit resources are retained and further resources can be put in place for the ongoing effective delivery of road safety auditing.
The Western Australia road safety audit definitions provided on the Road Safety Audit Portal states that an Audit Team shall comprise at least two people, independent of the design team, comprising members appropriately experienced and trained in road safety engineering or crash investigation with knowledge of current practice in road design or traffic engineering principles who undertake the road safety audit.
In Western Australia the Road Safety Audit Panel manages this requirement by requiring an audit team is to be made up of an accredited Senior Road Safety Auditor to lead the audit team and at least one accredited Road Safety Auditor team member.
What does the exemption permit?
The exemption permits regional road authorities in Western Australia up to 18 months to conduct resource planning to retain and develop road safety audit skills, experience and resources within their organisation.
The exemption permits regional road authorities a temporary exception to the accredited Audit Team composition for auditor accreditation and audit report registration requirements. This allows audit teams to be temporarily made up of the following minimum team composition:
- A team led by an accredited Senior Road Safety Auditor; and
- At least one Audit Team Trainee team member.
An Audit Team Trainee: means an individual that has successfully completed a recognised Road Safety Audit training course within 5 years who accompanies the Audit Team to gain experience of the road safety audit process.
The aim of the exemption is to enable road authorities to develop existing audit resources within regional Western Australia. This is to be achieved by assisting road authorities to meet the accreditation requirements for existing and new road safety auditors in locations where geographic constraints make it difficult to establish and maintain auditor resources.
This process also aims to encourage bordering regional road authorities to make arrangements and form partnerships to share resources for the successful delivery of road safety auditing.
