Legal Requirements

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 requires you, as an employer, to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the Health & 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 & Safety at work regulations 1999, you have a responsibility to manage Health & Safety effectively. You need to carry out an assessment of the risks to the health & 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.

The Health and Safety Commission recently issued a series of guidelines covering the employer’s responsibility towards the employee. This included the recommendation that every company appointed a director to look after Health and Safety – including driving at work.

Case Study

Complying with the current road related Health and Safety regulations can be a daunting task, particularly for small to medium-sized companies who do not have the benefit of a Fleet Manager or Qualified Advanced Driver Trainer. But ignoring their responsibly can be expensive. Recently it cost a company more than £1 million in compensation as a result of its employees’ standard of driving.
(Source: Neutral Citation (2007) EWCA Civ 365)

The Government has made a commitment via a White Paper to reduce significantly the number of road accidents by the year 2010.   Indeed, it has already made significant changes to the ‘learner driver test’. Dr. Stephen Ladyman (Transport Minister) stated in March 2006:

  “All employers must remember they have a health and safety responsibility for their drivers….and help us reach the working drivers who are too busy to be concerned with safety.”