Corporate Killing: The Vehicle as a Place of Work

The British Standards Institute (BSI) claims that the new 'mobile workforce' is falling outside the protection of company health and safety cover.

John Lennox, the transport expert for the BSI, announced in a recent speech on Corporate Killing that more must be done to ensure occupational health and safety of employees - such as sales staff, company reps and van drivers - while driving. One third of all road traffic accidents involve people driving for work.

"Presently, the 'mobile workforce' ... has low visibility and as a result is not seen as a high priority in terms of [health and safety] by businesses and other organisations." says Lennox.

Members are advised to ensure that there is a fully effective, flexible, up-to-date monitoring and reporting system to cover all staff, which is robust and regularly audited.

Drivers should be issued with guidance on issues such as:
- mobile phones,
- number of working/ driving hours,
- the number and frequency of rest breaks,
- testing for drugs or alcohol,
- defect reporting,
- insurance/licence checks and
- vehicle safety.

[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.]
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