News

Beware: an employee's driving could put you in court

Employers must ensure that drivers are fit and entitled to drive or run the risk of prosecution

Businesses that employ drivers must regularly check their employees' entitlement and fitness to drive, as a recent case against a fleet operator highlights the risks, with it's managing director now facing personal prosecution.

With an average 214,500 driving disqualifications per year, those responsible for licence checking such as HR and fleet managers of companies should be aware that failure to conduct adequate licence checks could easily leave them facing liability.

After an employee was arrested for drink driving over the Christmas period, a case was brought against the Managing Director of Stoneforce Limited. The employee had failed to report to his employer that he was already disqualified from an earlier conviction and had continued to drive until stopped by the Police.

It is an offence for an employer to cause or permit an employee to drive without a valid licence. The liability is personal and rests with individuals, not companies, in cases that go before a court. Under current legislation, companies and managers are responsible not only for the fitness and suitability of their company vehicles but also that of the men and women who drive them. Those who only drive sporadically may be more of a concern because they have less experience of business motoring.


Under current legislation, companies and managers are responsible not only for the fitness and suitability of their company vehicles but also that of the men and women who drive them

In the event of an accident during a business trip, if the employee is found to be at fault, his or her company can be held liable and could face civil and even criminal prosecution. That means the possibility of significant fines or even custodial sentences for company directors."

As well as ensuring all employees are entitled to drive all fleets should develop a checklist to determine the health and safety risk of each driver. The booklet 'Driving At Work: Managing Road-Related Road Safety', produced by the Health and Safety Executive, the Department for Transport and Think! Road Safety is a good place to start. However, there are also other basic checks that concerned bosses can make:

Check that all employees that drive for your company have a valid driving licence

Ensure that all company drivers are aware of your health and safety policy

Is there anything in an employee’s history that suggests that he or she would benefit from either attitudinal or on the road driver training or both?

Does he or she know how to carry out routine car safety checks (lights, tyres, washer fluid levels, ABS)?

Is the employee aware of what to do in the event of a breakdown or accident?

Is the employee fully aware of company policy regarding mobile phone use in the car?

Does anything in the employee's medical history affect their ability to drive on business?

Are they taking any medicine that could also do so?

Does their eyesight satisfy the requirements of the Highway Code?

'Longer driving hours pose risk management threat'

New research finds that UK workers are chained to the car, not the desk - with obvious threats to risk management.

Are your drivers complaining of being behind the wheel too much? They're not alone. According to Bank of Scotland Vehicle Finance, business mileage has increased in the last 12 months by over 30%. This means the average worker now drives 17,488 miles a year on business.

When asked how many hours they spent driving on company business each week, over 30% of drivers admitted to spending between 20 and 30 hours a week behind the wheel.

The findings from the research show that there are obvious repercussions for risk management. Problem areas include speeding, with 61% of drivers regularly breaking the 70mph speed limit on the motorway as they rush to fit in more and more business meetings.

In total, 80% per cent of those questioned think that pressures of work, or being late for appointments make them drive faster or less safely, and over 58% admit to not taking a break every two hours on long jou
eys as recommended in the highway code.

One key conce
highlighted by RAC is speeding. According to the research, 74% of company car drivers admit breaking the speed limit most days; 31% say they speed on motorways and 18% within 30mph limits, which is where the majority of speeding incidents take place.

Common reasons for speeding are that the driver is in a hurry because they are late for a meeting or perhaps they have an unrealistic target to complete a number of service calls or sales calls each day.

Companies therefore need to ensure that their management decisions and targets do not encourage - or inadvertently require - their employees to speed

Companies need to ensure that they address health and safety from the top down and integrate awareness into the way employees work. They need to take health and safety on the roads seriously.

The starting point for this cultural shift is also a legal requirement: having a clear corporate policy on health and safety.

Carrying out a risk assessment is an essential part of drawing up a policy. But many companies fail to have such a policy regarding occupational road risk, let alone communicate it to drivers.

It is no longer acceptable to pay lip service to the law by simply ticking boxes. To ensure drivers take responsibility when behind the wheel, health and safety needs to be firmly embedded in the company's working ethos.

For example, driver fatigue is an area that is overlooked by many companies but could be better managed by individual drivers if it was addressed as part of the inherent daily work routine. "It is unreasonable for an employer to impose a schedule on a driver that is unrealistic and that causes them to take risks, such as driving when tired," says Sutherland. "As part of the company's Duty of Care it is important to get the right balance."

Even drivers who arrange their own diaries should have the importance of allowing enough time to get from A to B instilled in them. After all, this does not only reap health and safety benefits, it means employees will arrive in a much better frame of mind to do business.

While the HSE guidelines stipulate that drivers should have a break for every two hours that they are driving, employers don't necessarily know if this is happening.

'Speeding offences soar as 1.9 m are caught on camera'

Government statistics covering the year 2003 showed a 44 per cent rise in speeding offences compared with 2002.

Motoring offences reached a record 13.2 million the equivalent of 469 being committed for every 1,000 cars.

"There are now nearly 6,000 more cameras than there were five years ago and the number of convictions will continue to rise over the next 12 to 18 months as more are installed," said Ian Bell, ACPO's safety camera co-ordinator.

'Corporate Killing Countdown'

The new Corporate Manslaughter law which will make companies liable for fatal accidents while driving on business, could be introduced within the next year.

This law will punish those directors and managers who have ignored the safety of their employees on the road.

Licence Crackdown Plea After Data Act Anomaly

A Data Protection Act anomaly that prevents fleets from accessing driver records without individual permission should force companies to introduce a strict ‘no consent, no car’ policy.
The warning comes after a survey of 2,000 company car drivers found that one had been banned and 17 had between nine and 12 points – a level at which employees in many companies would be in danger of losing their jobs. An increasing number of companies are carrying out checks on driving licences as part of their duty of care responsibilities.

Driving licence validation is a process where a company can check the licence validity, the types of vehicle the driver is allowed to drive as well as the endorsements of anyone who drives a company vehicle or their own car for business purposes.
It said the results could have been worse had it not been for the fact the Data Protection Act prevents companies accessing driver records without individual consent.

More than 600 drivers, about 32% of the poll, could not be measured because they had not consented to having their licences checked. This was despite two formal reminders sent 10 days apart.

This could be down to internal issues over how effectively the importance of complying with the request was communicated to staff.
The company is now urging fleets to introduce stricter policies when it is proved that drivers understood the importance of consenting, but still refused.

This would mean that fleets can withhold the keys to company vehicles, or not allow drivers to use their own vehicles for company business unless they do consent to a driving licence check.

This is the only way businesses can measure whether or not they have discharged their duty of care responsibilities, otherwise they are acting in blind faith and potentially putting drivers and the business at risk.

Of the 1,400 drivers who did consent, about 30% had three points on their licence and 5% (109) of drivers had five points or more.
Most of the endorsements were for speeding.