Your legal requirements for driving at work
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires you to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work.
You need to carry out a health and safety risk assessment of your employees, while they are at work.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has defined that the vehicle is a workplace if used in the course of an employee’s working day.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999 state:
"Risk assessment.Section 3.
Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of
a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work;
b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking – for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provision.
Section 3 (2) imposes similar conditions on self-employed personnel regarding their own safety, while Section 3 (3) says: Any assessment such as is referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be reviewed by the employer or self employed person who made it if;
a) there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid;
b) there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates; and where as a result of any such review, changes to an assessment are required, the employer or self-employed person concerned shall make them."
Paragraph 6 (of section 3) adds:
"Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record
a) the significant findings of the assessment;
b) any group of his employees identified by it as being especially at risk."
Section 7 (1) makes it clear that every employer should "appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements", while 7 (5) says such a person should have "sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist in undertaking the measures referred in paragraph (1)."
HSE Publication Driving at Work
From the HSE Publication Driving at Work – Managing Work Related Road Safety which deals with the requirements of health and safety law.
To manage your Occupational Road Risk you need to:
Have a comprehensive road safety policy as part of your overall Health and Safety Policy which is supported by senior management.
Have Road Safety Management procedures including risk assessments for drivers, vehicles and journeys.
Establish managers’ roles and responsibilities in managing occupational road risk and ensure that they are able to enforce company policy.
Compile and review claims statistics to identify trends and high risk areas.
Give drivers relevant information, supervision and training to minimise risk and ensure their safety on the road.
Review policies, procedures, claims, working practices including journey planning and amend as required to minimise any newly identified risks.
The document can be read and downloaded here. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf
The Road Safety Act 2006
The Road Safety Act 2006 contains certain relevant updates of existing legislation. A new offence of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, which will carry a custodial sentence of up to five years. The penalty for careless or inconsiderate driving doubles, from £2500 to £5000.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act came into force in April 2008. This Act sets out a new offence which may result in conviction where an organisation is judged to have grossly failed in the way it managed its activities resulting in a person’s death. This new act is concerned about encouraging the effective management of risk and not risk aversion. Those who disregard the safety of others at work, with fatal consequences, are now more vulnerable to serious criminal charges.
The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008
The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 came into force on 16th January 2009. The act is aimed at those who breach health and safety rules but unlike the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act, the breach does not have to result in death.
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