Fleet Management

Do you have a Work Related Road Risk’ Policy?

MANAGEMENT IS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE for any employee who drives a company vehicle or their own vehicle, motor bike or cycle whilst at work so they must be covered by a Work Related Road Risk  Health and Safety Policy .

The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 (Corporate Homicide in Scotland) and the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 increased the accountability of managers for the safety of their workforce whilst behind the wheel. Both carry a hefty custodial and financial penalty if individuals are found to be negligent in regard to their companies Management of Occupational Road Risk.

Management of Occupational Road Risk must be a priority within the Health and Safety requirements of any company that employ’s 5 or more people.

Self-employed people have a similar responsibility to that of employers.

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974,2 requires you to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. You also have a responsibility to ensure that others are not put at risk by your work-related driving activities.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999,3 you have a responsibility to manage health and safety effectively. You need to carry out an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of your employees, while they are at work, and to other people who may be affected by their work activities. The Regulations require you to periodically review your risk assessment so that it remains appropriate.

Who does this apply to?

This applies to anyone driving a vehicle as part of their daily tasks. Not including commuting to and from their normal place of work but would include driving from home to a somewhere other than their normal place of work.

Obviously, J.E.M. would be happy to help you with compliance of the above, this can take the form of any or all of the following:

  • Detailed review and bespoke development of HSE Occupational Road Risk policy;
  • Developing and implementing an effective audit trail for your Management of Occupational Road Risk (MORR) Health and Safety strategy;
  • Individual Driver Risk Assessment for inclusion within your MORR strategy and audit trail;
  • In-car practical Driving Assessment with comprehensive report provided on each driver;
  • Practical in-car training to improve employee driving skills;
  • Presentations to enhance employee ‘Driver Awareness and Hazard Perception skills and other bespoke in house training’;
  • A periodical review of the MORR policy and Risk assessment of drivers once a year; and
  • Maintenance of individual driving records.
J.E.M. appreciate this may sound like a horrendous amount of work for what may be relatively few short journeys for most companies.  If approached in the correct way we can develop a simplified, streamlined approach which would satisfy your compliance needs as well as being cost effective.

Outcomes and Benefits that your business should see:

  • Reduced maintenance costs by correctly preparing fleet vehicles on a daily basis;
  • Reduced insurance and accident claims by identifying and effectively managing high and medium risk drivers;
  • Reduce running costs through the application of economical and proven advanced driving techniques as used by the Police and RoSPA;
  • Drivers will aquire the knowledge to identify and avoid potential hazards through the application of advanced driving techniques so helping to reduce incidents or near misses; and
  • An effective Management of Occupational Road Risk strategy and audit trail.

Driving at any time is an inherently dangerous activity. Our professional and individually tailored driving development programme, generic policy, recording of risks, training, and fleet management checks which can be tailored to suit your business needs will not only bring your company in line with legislation, it will more importantly ensure that your employees are given the best possible means of minimising the likelihood of death or serious injury whilst driving at work.

http://www.rospa.com/drivertraining/winter/

This is a quote from the HSE Driving at Work guidence notes at  http://www.orsa.org.uk/guidance/pdfs/hse_guide.pdf

Employers’ responsibility for work-related road safety and HSC’s enforcement policy

Health and safety law requires employers and the self-employed to ensure so far as reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of all employees and to safeguard others who may be put at risk from their work activities. This includes when they are undertaking work-related driving activities.

HSC’s enforcement policy statement recognises the need to prioritise investigation and enforcement action. Current priorities, as set out in HSC’s Strategic plan, do not include work-related road safety.

The police will, in most cases, continue to take the lead on the investigation of road traffic incidents on the public highway. Enforcement action by HSE will usually be confined to incidents where the police identify that serious management failures have been a significant contributory factor in the incident.

Edward has recently been interviewed to help produce an article on winter driving for the York Evening Press which can be read through this link http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/features/8757504.Driving_tips_on_how_to_stay_on_the_road_during_icy_weather/