Helpers may need help too!

Thousands of community spirited people give up their time to work as volunteer drivers for a wide range of transport groups and charities. But, how many of these organisations have risk management policies in place with laid down procedures involving a comprehensive risk assessment of both the volunteer driver and their vehicle?

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents believes that it is only now with the focus on corporate risk management that many community transport organisations and charities have realised that they have a duty of care responsibility towards their volunteer drivers.

Voluntary organisations, just like businesses, have a duty of care under health and safety law to ensure the safety of their staff, including volunteer drivers, passengers and anyone else affected by their activities. As a result, says RoSPA, they should have policies in place to make sure that risks are properly identifi ed and managed.

To help community groups and charities put their policies and procedures in place RoSPA has published the ‘Volunteer Driver’s Handbook’, which is designed to help volunteer drivers avoid accidents and injuries to themselves, their passengers and other road users. And, as result, save the organisation they are attached to from possible prosecution and embarrassing media coverage.

The 20-page guide contains advice on: Journey planning, the volunteer’s fitness to drive, drink, drugs, eyesight, medicine and fatigue information, driving within speed limits, distractions – mobile phone, eating/drinking and tuning the radio – driver training, occupant safety, safe vehicle advice and accident breakdown and emergency procedure

Refer

Duncan Vernon, RoSPA road safety officer, said: “The new handbook gives volunteer drivers something they can easily refer to so they can see what their organisation is doing to keep them safe on the road. We hope it will be a useful tool for volunteers and their organisations to work through together.”

A ring-round by RoadSafe magazine of a handful of randomly selected charities and community transport organisation revealed a mixed bag of driving-related related risk management checks being carried out. Alan Miles, administration and data protection manager of the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind) and a leading fi gure within ACFO (the Association of Car Fleet Operators), issues risk management guidance to managers of the charity’s almost 20,000 volunteers nationwide. That advice covers driving licence checks, vehicle registration and MoT documentation as well as proof of business insurance.

He said: “We provide guidance but it is up to line managers to undertake checks on volunteers at a local level. Some volunteers have found this intrusive and a balance does need to be struck as their work is voluntarily and we want them to help us. Nevertheless, we explain that the checks are not just for our protection but also their own protection and virtually all volunteers are very co-operative.”

Any volunteers who drive an RNIBsupplied vehicle – pool car, hire car or a minibus – are treated the same as employees.

Driver licence checks are mandatory and all minibus drivers must undertake the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS) course managed by the Community Transport Association throughout the UK, except in Hampshire, which holds the copyright to the training and operate it themselves.

At the opposite end of the scale, a spokesman for one cancer-related charity commented: “You have certainly made my colleagues think about what we should be doing that we aren’t.”

Brian Shawdale, advice and training director, at the Community Transport Association, said: “The CTA takes a pragmatic view on many issues surrounding the way we advise voluntary organisations on how they manage the risks associated with any transport they operate or use. Taking all the practical factors into account we now recommend that all voluntary organisations provide initial training and assessment, and an ongoing system of refresher training. We encourage trustees of voluntary sector organisation to address the risks inherent in transport. We also believe that trustees should adopt a policy of insisting on regular assessments of driving and passenger assistance skills for all staff and volunteers.”

Although the CTA does not provide any driver training, under MiDAS it has appointed a number of training agents (DATs) who, in turn, train driver assessor trainers.

Mr Shawdale explained: “When a voluntary organisation agrees to implement MiDAS, the trustees decide that it will apply to everyone who drives any minibus owned or operated. The organisation then gets a DAT trained and they provide all the training and assessment locally and at a time that suits the volunteers.

As well as training and assessing driving skills, MiDAS is the UK’s major source of training for passenger assistance skills including lifts, wheelchair securing and a wealth of information to raise the disability awareness of minibus drivers.”

MIDAS certification for drivers lasts four years when all drivers must complete a refresher training course, which updates legal or best practice changes, and includes a driving assessment. The certificate held by a DAT expires after two years and they similarly receive their own refresher training and assessment.

In the UK there are currently almost 65,000 people holding current MiDAS certificates and 1,200 holding a valid DATs certificate.

James Sutherland, managing director of risk management provider Peak Performance, said: “Organisations or charities using unpaid, voluntary drivers to carry out work should take reasonable steps to ensure the driver is a competent person and the vehicle they are using is fit for purpose. Specifically, charities should understand the difference between volunteer drivers simply using their vehicles to carry out, for example, home visits, as opposed to asking volunteer drivers to transport individuals on hospital visits, trips to day care centres etc. It is this latter situation that gives considerable cause for concern when looking at any particular duty of care issues.

Competency

“To ensure competency this should mean, at the very least, checking the driver’s licence to ensure that they are qualifi ed to drive the class of vehicle they are driving, and that they are not carrying excessive penalty points, have been banned for drink-driving or have been convicted for other serious road traffic offences.

“The organisation may also want to consider carrying out the basic Highway Code eyesight test, and ask the driver to sign a declaration that there is no medical reason that might prevent them from carrying out the duties they are being asked to perform.

“To ensure the vehicle is fit for purpose, the organisation might wish to see vehicle details showing age and date of registration, current MoT certificate, and relevant and valid insurance details. They may also wish to ask the driver to sign a declaration to say that the vehicle has been properly maintained and is not defective in any way.

“Charities and voluntary organisations might not want to implement what are seen as ‘over the top’ procedures that would prevent people from carrying out this important voluntary service.

“However, it makes sense to ensure that the risk is managed and that reasonable, commonsense steps are taken to ensure the safety of both drivers and passengers, and other road users, who may be put at risk as a consequence of these journeys. We live in an ever-increasing litigious society and reasonable safeguards should be taken.

“If the organisation fails to take these steps, and a serious accident should occur as a result of their use of the driver in question, they could be laying themselves open to all manner of legal claims from third parties injured as a consequence.

Transportation

“Without doubt, the transportation of people to hospital or other institutions takes the organisation’s duty of care to another level, and any volunteer driver should be happy to provide all of the above information as proof of their competency and the condition of their vehicle. Any that don’t, for whatever reason, should be considered very carefully indeed.”

It’s a view shared by Steve Johnson, spokesman for both risk management provider Drive & Survive and the Fleet Safety Association. He said: “Any charity which relies on volunteer drivers must be aware that they have exactly the same duty of care towards their welfare, and that of their passengers, as any conventional employer.”

In addition to driver and vehicle checks, Mr Johnson says organisations should make sure volunteer drivers are familiar with routes before setting out and any stress-inducing delays should be avoided.

Produced with the support of the Department for Transport, the Volunteer Driver’s Handbook can be download at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/volunteer_ drivers.pdf

Case study

Barnardo’s, the long-established charity that works with 110,000 children, young people and their families in over 383 specialised projects in local communities across the UK, is at the forefront in ensuring that its volunteer drivers comply with managing occupational road risk best practice.

Terry Loizou, the organisation’s corporate transport and insurance manager, said: “We have stringent driver approval policies and procedures in place governing all people who are employed by the charity and drive the 300 vehicles on our fleet.

“I have identified the need to extend the same policies and procedures to include the thousands of staff and volunteers who drive their own private cars on behalf of Barnardo’s business. We are endeavouring to have all measures in place before the Corporate Manslaughter & Homicide Act becomes law in April 2008.”

Compliance with the Act as well as the raft of health and safety at work legislation already in place, has been the catalyst for ensuring that all volunteer drivers will be risk assessed. Doing nothing was not an option, said Mr Loizou.

The review of occupational road policies, will result in driving licence checks, business insurance details including passenger liability cover, eyesight tests, vehicle MoT and validation of service records all required by Barnardo’s for all private vehicles before a member of staff or volunteer can drive on behalf of the charity.

In addition, a wealth of advice on journey planning, vehicle safety checks, mobile phone use, fatigue and a range of other driving-related concerns is available to staff and volunteers on the organisation’s intranet site. Mr Loizou, a member of ACFO (the Association of Car Fleet Operators) and chairman of a consortium of 15 charities that focus on fl eet purchasing as well as discussing best practice, said: “We cannot be too prescriptive otherwise people will not volunteer to work on our behalf. However, we must ensure that everyone who drives on behalf of Barnardo’s is risk assessed to safeguard the charity in the event of an incident.

“The proposed new policy will aim to identify responsibilities and we expect all affected to sign a disclaimer to protect the charity. We are also ensuring that managers across the whole organisation who are responsible for our volunteers understand the measures we are taking because we want them to risk assess locally.

“Our executive board understand their responsibilities, and all organisations should ensure their volunteer drivers undergo a risk assessment to comply with the law. Organisations want to cut bureaucracy, but they have a legal responsibility to manage occupational road risk irrespective of whether the vehicle being driven is privately owned or not.”

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