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Rhiannon Morgan
Member - 6 posts
Recently we are needing the occasional delivery made for the business which is carried out by a member of staff and we hire a van for the purpose. My main worry is if he has an accident whilst on the delivery and hurts either himself or someone else what does this mean for us?
I assume we would be responsible as it was for business purposes.
Any advice would be gratefully received as we have only just started doing this delivery and it may become a regular thing. What sort of things do I need in place before it does get more frequent?
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James Fairchild
Member - 210 posts
Some kind of adequate driver training for starters, I can recommend IAM Fleet (Institute of Advanced Motorists' commercial training arm) http://www.iamfleet.co.uk
Another thing is whether insurance is sufficient.
Personally, I would have said that if this is only occasional and you're having to specially hire a van, it may well be cheaper to use a courier company or local delivery company (especially when you consider staff downtime).
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RUSSELL HILL
Member - 27 posts
I would agree with James regarding using a local courier to deliver the occaisional delivery. Is this member of staff the only person in the company that drives at work? Do you or fellow managers go and visit clients or go to networking events? If you look closely you may find that there is more work-related driving than you thought. If you find there are mre journeys than you thought then you must put in place systems and policies to reduce risks. Driver training is part of the process as is a managable occupational road safety programme.
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Rhiannon Morgan
Member - 6 posts
There would be no point in getting a courier to take it as the cost of the delivery would be far higher than the cost of the items they would be delivering. It's also much higher than the cost of hiring the van and the staff wages. He is the only member of staff that can really do the job as the other two members of staff who drive are needed here all day. My worry comes from the fact that he has admitted to other staff that he rarely keeps to the speed limit or wears a seatbelt, I've only just found this out which is why I'm now having my doubts about letting him do the deliveries.
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Anne McAllister
Member - 115 posts
A driver who blatantly disrespects the law ( either in a working environment or during personal use of the roads) is a liabilty.
I believe some drivers are exempt from wearing seat belts (?) but no one is allowed to speed.
If you follow James and Russells good advice where will that leave you in the event of a fatal accident inquiry?
Hopefully driver training will sort this guys bad habits out but is it worth risking the possibilty of death?
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James Fairchild
Member - 210 posts
What products do you make? I'm actually struggling to guess, as it appears something low-value, yet presumably something that can't be sent Royal Mail?
I just hope its not bone china, given the driver ability that has been mentioned.
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Rhiannon Morgan
Member - 6 posts
He he, no it's not china. We don't use Royal Mail as they have lost too many of our deliveries in the past and not once have we ever got any money back despite insurance on the delivery, etc... but I'm going off on a tangent.
The products we deliver personally are bottles so although the mixture and bottles itself and not overly expensive they are extremly heavy. I shall have a talk with the bosses about sorting something out with this as I really don't feel comfortable with the current situation. Thanks for the good advice on the driving courses, I shall check them out.
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Andrew Griffiths
Member - 2 posts
Rhiannon, You need to take action on this quickly. The new Corporate Manslaugter and Corporate Homicide Bill comes into force on the 6th April (tomorrow). The new Bill will make it easier for the Police and CPS to prosecute companies who casued a fatality at work, which will include occupational driving. Therefore if you are aware that your employee does not wear a seat belt and speeds then you need to take action. Under the new Bill your company will be expected to have a suitable policy and procedure covering occupational driving and for ensuring your drivers are suitably trained/qualified and insured. It is highly expected that this new Bill will be focusing upon occupational driving to make a test case as vehicle accidents in the past have not been covered under health and safety law and therefore it has proved difficult to prosecute companies follwoing a fatal accident involving occupational driving.
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Rhiannon Morgan
Member - 6 posts
Thank you for all the replies and offers of driving course help, it's all been a great help.
I have spoken to 'them upstairs' about my concerns to do with the delivery and they agreed with me. We're going to start sending it by freight now as it takes away a lot of the worry and they agree with me that someone who seems to take pride in speeding and unsafe driving shouldn't be trusted to deliver for us no matter how many courses he's been on.
It's taken a great weight off of my mind so thatnks everyone for the tips and help.
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