Vehicle Fleet Driver Health & Safety

Company car and van drivers account for three–quarters of all injury and fatal road collisions that occur every week on UK roads, but did you know that two thirds of company vehicle fleet operators do not provide driver training, nor to they have a risk assessment programme for their drivers?

As a responsible vehicle fleet operator you will be very much aware of Health and Safety issues, and will therefore naturally be concerned about the health and safety of your employees in the work place. Operating a vehicle fleet with a team of drivers can carry a huge liability in terms of Health and Safety.

You want your Company Vehicle Drivers to be properly Risk Assessed so you can make informed decisions as to how to apply your training budget; to ensure that the investment you make into driver training is directed at the people who are most at risk on the road.

Our comprehensive Driver Risk Assessments will provide you with effective driver Risk Management Tools, backed with a detailed analysis of the performance and training needs of the drivers within your motor fleet. The Risk Assessment process covers all core competencies relating to the practice of effective road driving methods to help you make the right decisions towards maintaining a good Driver Safety Record.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 makes the requirement for all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees whilst at work. There is also a responsibility on employers and employees to ensure that others are not put at risk by their work–related activities, and this includes driving car, vans and other vehicles on the public road.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 makes the requirement for employers to carry out an assessment of the risks to the Health and Safety of their employees, and of themselves, whilst they are at work, and to assess if other people may be affected by those work activities. This includes any driving activity, and the regulations require that risk assessments be reviewed periodically to ensure that no adverse changes have occurred.

The fact is that employers have an obligation in law to evaluate the risks to employees driving car, vans and other vehicles on the road in just the same way as for the risks associated with ensuring safety in any other part of the workplace, as would be the case of a worker on the factory floor.

Passing the standard DSA driving test is not an adequate risk assessment process, so relying on a full driving licence is not enough.

Health and Safety legislation relating to drivers does not apply when travelling from their home to their normal place of work, but can apply if travelling to a location that is not their normal place of work.

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

When this Act came into force on 1st April 2008, and for some time leading up to that date, there was a lot of scaremongering going on about the potential implications it delivered. However, despite all the cries of impending doom to all vehicle fleet operators, the responsibility toward the health and safety of the employee didn’t changed. The only thing affected by the Act is who takes responsibility if something goes wrong in terms of how the legal system now affects individuals in positions of authority.

Before the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force, if an employee was injured, killed themselves or another on the road, and as a result of not being afforded the appropriate training to perform his or her job, or not been properly risk assessed, the company could be placed on trial.

In the event of a successful prosecution it would have been the company name that would be prosecuted and perhaps have to forfeit whatever sum of money was awarded in damages and fines.

Individuals are now accountable
for failures to provide appropriate staff training

Now the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is in place, it is individuals who are held accountable, and the Act has brought in penalties of terms of imprisonment for individuals. What this amounts to is a training manager, director, or any person held responsible for the organising and⁄or facilitating the Training and Development of employees, can personally be held accountable and be personally punished if it is found that death or injury was contributed to by inadequate driver risk assessment and training.

In a nutshell, culpability no longer stops at the corporate nameplate, but with the individual who is responsible Health and Safety and therefore manages the company risk assessment and driver training programme.

Driving at Work — Information published by Heath & Safety Executive
Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act 2007 – The Act of Parliament.

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This page was last updated
Tuesday, 07-Dec-2010

Vehicle Fleet Driver Health & Safety