Six-step Action Plan to Cut Accident Rates among Company Car Drivers

A six-step action plan to slash accident rates among company car drivers is set to push fleet safety to the top of the agenda in company boardrooms. The HSE guide, currently in draft form, sets out the key areas where fleets must focus to improve at-work driver safety.

It covers a full assessment of hazards, deciding who is at risk of being harmed, evaluating the risks employers and drivers face and what needs to be done to tackle them. Companies must also introduce measures to reduce risk where possible and then record findings if necessary, before reviewing and revising the effect of their actions.

Details of the guidelines, being prepared by the HSE, were revealed for the first time at the Fleet News Budget Briefing by Amery-Parkes solicitor David Faithful.

Although the plans are currently in draft form, he gave a stark message to businesses about their impact when they are released.

While employers can use the benchmarks to improve safety, officials can also use the guidelines to see where employers are failing in their duty of care to drivers, which could lead to senior managers and companies being prosecuted if employees are involved in fatal accidents.

Creating the guidelines was a key recommendation of the Government-backed Work-related Road Safety Task Group (WRRSTG), which produced an in-depth report in 2001.

Draft recommendations from the WRRSTG called for the extension of health and safety laws to cover company vehicle drivers.

This would see employers forced to adopt the same duty of care responsibilities for at-work drivers as they have towards staff in the workplace, including a detailed risk management assessment.

The safety focus can be introduced without the need for new laws, but Faithful told delegates at the Budget Briefing, sponsored by Arval PHH and AllStar, to also expect new legislation that would make their work more difficult.

This includes an expected ban on the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving and the introduction of the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2003, which provide specific guidance on how long drivers should spend behind the wheel.

The guidance will mean that employers should keep documentary evidence of how long staff have spent driving in any one day, Faithful suggested.

Fleets are also assessing the impact of a Court of Appeal decision to hand down harsher sentences for drivers involved in fatal accidents if there are aggravating factors, such as the use of mobile phones, aggression, driving while distracted, driving while tired and driving a poorly- maintained vehicle.

Guidance for Work-related Road Safety

- Look for hazards – including the company and organisation, the driver, the vehicle and the journey.
- Decide who might be harmed – the driver, passengers, other road users, pedestrians, vulnerable groups.
- Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing precautions or procedures are adequate, if not, whether more should be done.
- Introduce control measures to eliminate, reduce or control the risk – alternatives to driving, maintenance of vehicles, safety equipment, policy covers highway code .
- Record your finding, if necessary.
- Review your assessment and revise if necessary - gather information in the light of changes.

Workplacelaw Network Driving at Work Policy

Driving at Work Policy and Management Guide, Version 1.0 (ISBN 1-900648-29-6, £74.99) is available in MS Word format as an electronic download from the Workplacelaw Network website - www.workplacelaw.net/eshop - or by calling 0870 777 8881. 10% discount available to members of the Workplacelaw Network, BIFM, RICS, IFMA or RIBA. Please quote ref. 1319 when ordering. Further information is available from Sam Colella on 0870 777 8881.
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