Reduce driving risk
Article Date: Apr 13 2006
The law requires companies to safeguard the health and safety of all employees while at work and to also ensure that others are not put at risk by the work-related activities of your employees.
These laws affect staff required to drive as part of their job, which is likely to be the highest-risk activity they undertake. Large companies tend to have a dedicated fleet manager looking after all the risks associated with employees driving for work purposes. If something untoward were to happen and the manager in charge of a fleet has been in any way ‘negligent’, it is highly likely that any civil claim could be successful. This means a written risk-management policy is every fleet manager’s best defence against being sued. However, the number of vehicles used by medium-sized companies is often not sufficient to warrant having a fleet manager and this can mean such risk management measures are overlooked.
Driving forward
A survey of cars driven for business recently revealed 14 per cent were not roadworthy and 17 per cent were not adequately maintained. Furthermore, Department for Transport figures show at least a third of deaths on British roads each year involve people who are driving for work purposes. However, this statistic, which accounts for a thousand deaths each year, may well be a conservative estimate as the true number of private cars driven while on business is unknown.
Flintshire computer consultancy Samarind is an example of what is very common in small firms. Managing director Sadik Pothiawala says the responsibility of organising the fleet falls mostly to the finance director, ‘but we’re not a huge organisation and we’ve only got three directors. We can’t go around checking all the tyres all the time,’ he reasons, ‘We advise our drivers to make sure the cars are always spot on and we stress that they are responsible for making sure their car is safe. So, if the car had bald tyres, for example, our position would be “For God’s sake go and get them replaced!” And in the event of an accident we have insurance.’
If this sounds familiar, be advised that one in five company drivers have experienced a road collision in the last five years while driving on company business. Nominating one person in your company to have responsibility for handling car use could save you money and a lot of hassle in the long run, not to mention possibly saving someone’s life.
Consider all the risks
To conduct your own assessment of driving risks, you need to examine where the risks lie and how best to mitigate them. Do you know how safely your staff drive? Have any drivers got points on their licences? Do you need to train your drivers? Are you satisfied that vehicles are fit for the purpose for which they are used? In addition, it is probably worth consulting the HSE for free advice or even employing a risk-management adviser.
Zurich Risk Services is one such company, and motor spokesperson Andy Price insists that a chief priority for anyone in charge of a company that uses vehicles is to make sure driving at work is as safe as possible. ‘We strongly advise businesses to conduct risk assessments and implement risk management solutions to help reduce collision rates for employees driving for work reasons. It’s something easily overlooked, but small firms with casual arrangements for staff driving vehicles are leaving themselves vulnerable to all manner of legal repercussions should an incident occur.’
