Legislation
There’s no getting away from it – there is a considerable amount of legislation that those responsible for business drivers have to be both aware of and compliant with. Even if the majority of your employees run their own vehicles (a so-called ‘grey fleet’ situation) you still have a responsibility in law for their welfare as soon as they start any journey on behalf of their employer, even if it’s as simple as nipping down the road to bank the cheques.
For your convenience we have supplied links to the relevant Acts on the menu on the right.
Even if you chose to have nothing more to do with Driving Risk Management there are two things that you MUST do, in case the police come knocking on the door one day:
- Have policies and procedures in place that guide your driving employees on best practice. You must be able to prove you issued them and that they were accepted by each driver
- According to the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Regulation 3 you must carry out a driver risk assessment for each employee who drives for work purposes Read the legislation here
By completing these two steps you will go a long way to mimimising your liability if a serious on-road incident involving one of your employees did occur for which you were deemed responsible in some way.
For other guidance on how to manage your company vehicle to minimise risk please see the HSE driving for work guidance document.
Background information to the HSE Driving At Work publication
Background information to the HSE Driving At Work publication