Duty of Care and Compliance
In the UK in particular legislation relating to the health and safety of employees and the Duty Of Care they are owed by employers whilst they are at work is becoming more and more onerous making compliance with legislation increasingly costly.
One aspect of compliance that is frequently overlooked concerns employees who drive on business. All too many organisations are unaware of the Health and Safety guidelines that apply to all business journeys regardless of whether the employee is a regular business driver or not and regardless of whether the vehicle they are driving is owned by the company or the employee themselves (i.e. a 'Grey Fleet' vehicle). These guidelines are shown in the Health and Safety Executive's 'Driving At Work' publication (INDG382) published in association with the Department of Transport.
Ignoring these guidelines exposes the organisation to prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in the event of a fatal accident involving either an employee or a member of the public. Penalties can be up to 10% of annual turnover. It also exposes employees, managers and Directors to prosecution as individuals with fines of up to £20,000 or two years imprisonment under the Health and Safety Offences Act 2009 in the event of any accident whether fatal or not.
The guidelines set out in INDG382 cover aspects such as routes, scheduling, speeding, long working hours or driving long distances (both leading to fatigue) and systems to monitor and assess risk and actual performance.
Click here to learn more about our solutionsTeamFix provides organisations with a cost effective way to capture detailed records of all journeys made regardless of what vehicle an employee uses. It also provides analyses and exception reporting on excessive working hours, excessive driving hours (in total and per journey) and speeding.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of Romexweb- Improved employee safety and fewer accidents
- Consistent risk management across the organisation including 'Grey Fleet' vehicles
- Reduced administration daily and in the event of an accident
- Reduced likelihood of fines to the organisation of up to 10% of annual turnover
- Reduced likelihood of prosecution of Directors, managers and employees as individuals
- Improved employee satisfaction and retention lowering recruitment and training costs
- Lower 'Bent Metal' costs and vehicle 'Time Off Road' Health and Safety Executive
- Improved fuel consumption from reduction in speeding
