Key Facts

• About a quarter of all vehicle miles travelled annually on Britain’s roads are for work purposes (excluding commuting).
• There are an estimated 3 million company cars on the roads and roughly 1 in 3 will be involved in an accident each year.
• Company drivers who drive more than 80% of their annual mileage on work related journeys have over 50% more injury accidents than similar drivers who do no work related mileage.
• The annual risk of dying in a road accident while driving for business reasons is significantly greater than the risk of dying as a result of all other workplace accidents.
• Every week around 200 road deaths and serious injuries involves someone at work.
• About 300 people are killed each year as a result of drivers falling asleep at the wheel. About 4 in 10 tiredness-related crashes involve someone driving a commercial vehicle.
• Work-related road accidents are the biggest cause of work-related accidental death. Between 800 and 1000 people are killed annually in work-related road traffic accidents compared to approximately 250 fatalities due to accidents notified annually under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

• Business drivers have collision rates that are 30 – 40% higher than those of private drivers.

Employers Responsibility

If you are a Company Director or a Manager you have a corporate responsibility for the safety of your employees and the risks to which they are exposed. If you are unable to prove evidence of effective procedures for managing driving risk you could face criminal prosecution. If a vehicle is involved in a fatal crash, the fatality is treated as ‘death in suspicious circumstances’ until proved otherwise – leading to a police investigation and the seizure of the vehicles involved. Furthermore, as motor insurance costs are based on claims history as opposed to blame, this can lead to significant higher premiums.

As an employer you must be able to identify the driver of a company vehicle at any time. If you don’t you could be in breach of health and safety laws should the vehicle be involved in a collision. As a result, financial penalties issued to a company are, typically, significantly higher than those issued to a named individual.

Some employers believe, incorrectly, that it is sufficient simply to ensure that their company vehicles have valid MOT certificates, and that drivers hold a valid licence. However, if one of your company’s business drivers is involved in a fatal collision whilst driving at work the company directors could potentially be charged under the existing Corporate Manslaughter legislation. In the case of fatal collisions, penalties on successful conviction can include a term of imprisonment for the employer as well as the driver themselves. This highlights the importance of keeping an audit trail.

Employers are able to have a significant influence on driver behaviour, and there is a sound business case for positive action. The risk of collisions significant increases where there is:

• No risk assessment for drivers
• A failure to regularly maintenance vehicles properly
• Setting unrealistic schedules, which require drivers to go too fast for the conditions
• Company policy placing drivers under pressure to take unnecessary risks in order to meet targets

• Forcing drivers to complete long journeys in a single day, rather than allowing them to make an overnight stay

The Law

The Health and safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health an safety of all employees whilst at work. Employers also have a responsibility to ensure that others are not put at risk by their employees’ work related driving activities.

In addition, under the Management of Health and safety at work Regulations 1999, employers have a responsibility to manage health and safety effectively and to assess and continually review the risks to the health and safety of their employees.

A vehicle used on company business is considered to be a place of work. No company wants any of its employees to be involved in road collisions. Yet, government figures show that those who drive on company business figure very highly in road collision statistics.

Employers have a responsibility to ensure that there are procedures in place to encourage safe and responsibility driving, including:

• Ensuring drivers operate within the law
• Reviewing workloads and routes
• Encouraging a safe speed culture
• Ensuring that drivers are compliant, fit and sufficient skilled
• Ensuring a sound knowledge of current legislation and codes of practice.

Employers have a responsibility to ensure that employees are able to manage their time effectively without having to speed in order to reduce their journey times. Furthermore, it is vital for employers to know who is driving reach company vehicle at all times.

Corporate manslaughter

As from April 2008 the Corporate Manslaughter Act means that, for the first time, companies and organisations themselves can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter on the basis of gross corporate failures in heath and safety. The act is about CORPORATE liability, rather than increasing liability for individual directors or managers who can already be held to account through heath and safety laws and the common law of manslaughter. Companies, organisations and for the first time Government bodies will face an unlimited fine if they are found to have caused death due to their gross corporate heath and safety failures.

For more detailed information visit: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/corporatemanslaughter2007