Road Safety Policy
Driving for work is one of the most significant occupational risks most employees are exposed to, but is often underestimated. Up to 1 in 3 road crashes involves a vehicle being driven for work.
Health and safety legislation requires employers to take appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees and others who may be affected by their activities when at work. This includes driving or riding at work, whether in a company vehicle, a hired vehicle or the employee’s own vehicle. It does not apply to people commuting, unless they are travelling from their home to somewhere which is not their usual place of work.
There will always be risks associated with driving and although these cannot be completely eliminated an employer has a responsibility to reduce these risks and do everything practical to protect people from harm in the same way as they would in the workplace.
Actively managing work-related road safety can reduce the risk of work-related road traffic crashes and collisions. Fewer road incidents also means less days lost to injury, fewer repairs to vehicles and increased productivity.
One way of actively managing work-related road safety is producing a road safety policy. This may cover driver training, vehicle maintenance, organising journeys and a commitment to work-related road safety. The policy should be reviewed and modified accordingly to ensure it is effective.
Topics that could be included in the policy are:
- employees eligibility to drive;
- employee driver training;
- employees fitness to drive;
- journey planning;
- vehicle tax and insurance;
- vehicle maintenance and inspections;
- breakdown cover and recovery;
- reporting accidents and incidents;
- mobile phone policy;
- drink and drugs policy;
- satellite navigation policy; and
- smoking policy.
New research has shown that a fifth of UK companies whose employees drive for work have no road safety policy in place. Does your workplace have/need a road safety policy?
Further guidance is available here.