The trouble starts when the coroner asks you how you knew the shackle would handle the load if it is not stamped
It doesn't actually.
The answer is really simple:
"Your Worship (or whatever Grand Title they apply to themselves these days ... ), when the relevant document at Page seven under the heading of "Safety Chain Connections (Shackles, Pins or Bolts)" states that the department " ... recommends ... ", am I to take it that this has somehow magically become law without the relevant recommendation being gazetted?".
I also note the following:
1) At p.4 of the relevant document it lists the legal requirements, and nowhere in this list does it mention either safety chains or shackles or such like; and
2) That this document appears to make almost all trailers with safety chains on the road unlawful, or attempts to do so, by requiring that the safety chains are marked in accordance with the relevant Australian Standards. Where has this requirement been gazetted? Even the chain in my lifting block and tackle was not so marked ...
While I do not disagree with the
intent of the document, it is seriously flawed at both practical and legal levels, IMNSHO.