Drive It Forward: Company Drivers

Is your company breaking the law?

Under the Health & Safety at Work Act all employers have a responsibility to have in place 'safe' systems of work which are intended to reduce work related risk 'so far as is reasonably practical'.

The company car or van, like other forms of work equipment, is potentially hazardous and the risks need to be properly managed.

FACT -There are 77,000 injuries to employees every year as a result of 'at work' road crashes.

Prosecutions have been made

If an employee is involved in a crash as a result of:

• unfitness
• fatigue through working long hours
• speeding to meet impossibly tight deadlines
• driving an unroadworthy vehicle or through lack of training

the police, together with other health and safety enforcing authorities could prosecute the employer under health and safety law.

Occupational road crashes can prove very costly not only through prosecution but also through

• lost wages or salaries
• lost orders and output
• administrative costs
• legal fees and costs incurred due to the interruption of business

Fleet Driver Training - the way forward

Organisations need to adopt procedures which will reduce risk to employees from occupational road risk and therefore affect the potential resulting costs.

The main factors to be considered in any assessment

• the journey - types of roads, distance, reasonable time allowance for breaks
• the vehicle - well maintained, safety features, distractions e.g. mobile phones
• the drivers age, experience, health, stress and accident history etc.

How do your drivers measure up?

Research has shown that use of driver training can reduce blameworthy crashes by between 30% and 70% in the first two years.

For further information about Fleet Driver Training telephone the Road Safety Group on 01772 531348

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