Fleet Training
Under The Road Traffic & Health & Safety at work Act 2008 plus the Corporate Manslaughter law introduced in April 08, employers have a duty of care to ensure the safety of employees driving for work purposes.
All Companies, large or small, are directly responsible for the safety of all employees. This includes the use of all company vehicles during normal working hours. If you use any vehicle at anytime during working hours for your business then you are responsible.
The police can and will be involved in all investigations involving a work related road accident death, or serious injury. In fact police now ask at the scene of accidents if any of the vehicles are being used for work.
This means that employers have to manage road risk in the same way that they manage other occupational Health and Safety risks throughout the rest of their business operations.
However, even though Government Legislation now requires it, only a small percentage of companies have now implemented a Road Risk Reduction Programme. The financial cost of not doing so can be substantial, fines are between 2.5% – 10% of the annual turnover of a business. For something as little as a defective tyre as well as penalty points for the driver, the company can receive a fine of up to £2,500.
Company drivers make up around 12% of licence holders in the UK, yet they are involved in 65% of all incidents and 35% of all fatalities year on year. Yet despite the Health and Safety at Work Act and the strong business case for effective risk management only 8% of company drivers have had any form of training.