One third of firms at risk of breaking the law

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Cambridgeshire County Council is holding a series of seminars to help companies compile their own workrelated road safety policies as part of the Government’s ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme. Ashley Martin reports...

Delegates

Delegates at the Cambridgeshire County Council road safety conference

Around a third of companies in Britain may be breaking the law because they do not have work-related road safety policies in place. A straw poll among delegates from companies attending a Cambridgeshire County Council seminar in Peterborough revealed that those organisations did not have a policy in place and had not carried out a risk assessment of their workrelated driving activities.

But, companies that employ more than five people have a legal obligation to have a road safety policy in place and review their risk assessments so they remain ‘live’ documents.

However, with up to a third of all road crashes involving a vehicle that is being driven for work purposes there is a widespread concern that many organisations are turning a blind eye to their statutory responsibilities.

Further evidence of that emerged at the seminar where if the ‘no policy’ figure is extrapolated across the UK it means hundreds of thousands of companies are putting themselves at risk of prosecution if one of their employees is involved in a serious crash while driving.

In a bid to help companies meet their obligations that apply under a raft of legislation, but notably the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, the 1999 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, which went live on April 6, the Department for Transport has launched the ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme.

Managed by RoadSafe, the initiative, and its related ‘business champions’ programme, is a vital component in the Government’s drive to reduce road traffic accidents.

As part of the Government work-related road safety education programme, the council is nearing the end of a series of eight all-day seminars designed to help local businesses establish work-related road safety initiatives.

Jenny Stannard

Jenny Stannard: 19% of all drivers killed and injured during 2005 and 2006 in Cambridgeshire were driving for work

It is hoped that at up to 400 businesses will have sent delegates to the seminars to gain firsthand knowledge from experts on: why a workrelated road safety policy is a legal essential, the benefits of having such a policy in place and the issues that should be contained within a policy. On completion of their own policies – delegates left the seminars with specially written risk management templates that they could adapt to meet their own individual requirements – firms have been invited to submit them to the council’s Road Safety Team for evaluation.

Ultimately, it is hoped that within the next few months all organisations that send delegates to the seminars will have in place working policies that meet the benchmark giving them the right to display the council’s new ‘Road Safety: We Mean Business’ banner on vehicles, office walls, letter heads and elsewhere.

The first company to achieve ‘Road Safety: We Mean Business’ certification was Cambridge Car and Van Rental. The company’s Debbie Buttress, who attended one of the seminars, said: “We take safety very seriously and driving vehicles is a main part of our business. By having a policy we hope to make all staff more aware of the importance of road safety and consequently reduce the risk of accidents. The seminar was extremely informative and helpful. It made writing the policy easier and it was good to know I had the support there if I needed it.”

Most delegates attending a Peterborough seminar were on a fact-finding mission to learn what they should include in a work-related road safety policy. Two-thirds of the companies had policies in place, but many delegates wanted to check that they had all issues relating to vehicles, drivers and journeys covered. Many feared that they might have ‘holes in their policies’ with particular concern to many organisations being regulations covering employees using their own cars on business. They were told that the law did not differentiate between company vehicles and privately-owned vehicles driven on business.

Essential

David Railton, construction director at Huntingdon-based Artisan (UK) Developments, said: “In the construction industry health and safety is absolutely essential so work-related road safety is a ‘bolt-on’ to our existing policies.”

Ten staff drive their own cars on business and Mr Railton said: “I am here to top up on my knowledge and there are issues that we need to enhance in our policies. We have all the fundamentals in place, but I have identified several areas to look at, notably driving licence check frequency.”

The company also disseminates occupational road risk essentials to sub-contractors with a view to influencing them and their operational procedures. Chris Stearne, plant manager with responsibility for health and safety, environment and quality at the Burwell site of national company DS Smith Packaging, was attending the seminar as he embarked on writing the company’s at-work driving policy, which would also apply to sub-contractors.

“We have a generic health and safety policy in place and I am now in the process of writing a work-related road safety policy. We want to make sure that we have got every angle covered and are fully compliant, which is why I attended the event,” he said.

Consultancy

Although the Cambridge-based S2 Partnership is a health and safety consultancy providing specialist safety solutions to servicesector businesses, business manager Vanessa Gould admitted the organisation did not have specific policies and procedures in place governing staff driving on business.

While, the company has rules on certain issues, including the use of mobile phones when driving and also checks driver and vehicle documentation, she said: “We don’t have one overall work-related road safety policy and we need to get one written, which is why I want some advice as to what should be covered and how we can continue to develop procedures.”

It was clear from a question and answer session that while ensuring that staff are legally entitled to drive and those driving their own cars on business have their documentation checked – insurance, MoT certificates and service schedules – more than half of companies attending were lax in their procedures with some admitting to undertaking no checks.

Every four hours somebody in Cambridgeshire is injured in a crash while driving for work. After 26 years as police officer and 20 years in roads policing, PC Tony Barrios, Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s casualty reduction officer, has had to deal with the tragic consequences of more incidents than he cares to remember.

Last year 86 people were killed on the county’s roads – many of them driving on business. Not only do crashes cause death and injury, but there is also a huge knock-on effect in terms of cost to business and cost to society. The economic and medical cost of a fatality is calculated to be £1.7 million, with a serious injury costing £196,000 and a slight injury £20,000.

Costs can range from the economic impact on businesses of customers being kept waiting for deliveries because a road is blocked to administrative issues surrounding the crash such as dealing with insurers and on to medical and hospital care.

PC Barrios said: “If we can do something about those costs together then there is a knockon effect for everyone and the money saved can be spent elsewhere.”

With inappropriate speed, mobile phone use, a failure to wear seat belts and drink-driving the four biggest contributors to killed and seriously injured crashes, PC Barrios said: “If companies have some policies in place that set controls and standards then they will impact on casualty reduction and reduce costs for business and society.”

Police officers investigating crashes initially determine if a person involved is on a workrelated journey. If they are, then investigations will be made to see if a work issue may have contributed to the incident – for example, a long hours culture and vehicle maintenance schedules. Sometimes the police may take legal action or may refer the incident to the Health and Safety Executive. PC Barrios said: “We do look to put cases to the HSE so it can see if any relevant legislation has been broken.”

Crashed

In one such case, The Produce Connection business, of Chittering, Cambridgeshire, was fined £30,000 with £24,000 costs after one of its workers crashed and died while driving home after a third consecutive shift of nearly 20 hours. Cambridgeshire Police referred the incident to the HSE with the company admitting failing to ensure the health of workers and the public.

The council received a £93,000 Department for Transport grant to fund the seminar programme and Jenny Stannard, road safety project manager for the authority, said: “Some 19% of all drivers killed and injured during 2005 and 2006 in Cambridgeshire were driving for work. We want to offer local businesses the chance to work closely with us to ensure they comply with legal requirements, and help to reduce casualties on Cambridgeshire’s roads. Work-related road crashes are the biggest cause of work-related accidents and deaths.”

With Cambridgeshire Police and other forces working increasingly closely with the HSE, the implementation of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act is expected to be the catalyst for in-depth investigation of companies’ occupational road risk policies and procedures and their relationship with employee working time and journey schedules.

Tony Barrios

Tony Barrios has had to deal with the tragic consequences of more incidents than he cares to remember

Unsure

Yet, Ed James, RoadSafe’s communication and information manager, said: “We have spoken to a lot of fleet decision-makers and they are unsure of their employer responsibilities and their own responsibilities.

“Unfortunately, many companies view workrelated road safety as unimportant. But the HSE says that for the majority of people the most dangerous task they will undertake during their working life is driving.”

Official figures suggest that:

Mr James said: “There is the potential for those figures to get a lot worse if action is not taken, but every crash is potentially avoidable. The lack of a safety culture and the absence of control measures are the biggest factors in companies failing to manage work-related road safety – and organisations not having risk assessments in place is the key factor.”

The Department for Transport/HSE published ‘Driving at Work: Managing work-related road safety’ guidance should be treated, says RoadSafe, as ‘a code of practice’ by businesses when compiling risk management procedures.

Mr James added: “Police can now use this guidance to prove negligence and to prosecute. Safety is not an option. If you get it wrong; you don’t have a business.”

Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act companies that are found guilty of committing a ‘gross breach’ of the legislation will be subjected to an unlimited fine – potentially running into millions of pounds – a remedial order and a publicity order.

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