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| The Current Environment |
Changes to Corporate Manslaughter laws could
spell trouble for employers whose staff are involved in serious
road traffic accidents. The changes, which came into force on
6 April 2008, could leave your company open to prosecution for
gross negligence – even if no company car is involved!
RoSPA launched its campaign for
the Managing Occupational Road Risk (MORR) in 1996. The
HSE have concluded that “between 25% and 33% of all serious
and fatal road traffic incidents involve someone who was at
work at the time”. This means that in 2001, between
862 and 1,035 people were killed in road accidents, in which
somebody was ‘at-work’.
| Duty of Care - What should we be doing? |
In real terms you should have a road safety management system for driving at work just as you would for any other work related activity. This should include:
- Provision of Road Safety Policies supported by Top Management;
- Provision of Road Safety Procedures including Risk Assessments for Drivers and Tasks;
- Provision of appropriate Driver Training, Information and, if necessary, Supervision;
- Regular checks on the Vehicle Fleet to ensure they are fit for purpose;
- Regular checks on Driving Licences in order to verify their status;
- Maintain and review both Vehicle & Driver data, looking for common trends and risks.
- Regular compliance audits to validate the Road Safety Management System.
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