RAC Duty of Care

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations of 1992 – updated 1999 - requires your company to carry out assessments regarding health and safety of all employees whilst at work and for the safety of others that may be affected by your employees work activities.

Driving any vehicle on company business, regardless of ownership, is subject to the legislation and is regarded as a bona-fide place of work for the duration of any journey undertaken for company business.

Any serious breach will be met by extremely severe financial penalties. No sympathy will be given even if the company is forced out of business as a result. The new Corporate Manslaughter Bill targets firms and organisations (not individuals) for deaths occurring in the workplace where it has been seen that a Duty of Care has not been evident.

Ignorance or lack of funding will not be accepted as a defence or excuse. The Police will investigate any accident if they feel there is a cause for concern over a vehicle or employee if they suspect carelessness or recklessness by the company.

The Minister for Transport and the Crown Prosecution Service believe many companies are at risk that have not “put their house in order” and therefore leave themselves open to prosecution in the event of a serious incident involving an employee or any vehicle undertaking a company journey no matter how trivial.

The directors/board in particular are responsible for the management of the Duty of Care legislation within their company and are, therefore most at risk from prosecution if the organisation is shown to be guilty of an offence under the Duty of Care legislation.

(Important Note; This programme primarily offers solutions to companies who permit employees to drive on company business in the own vehicles or vehicles provided by a cash for car scheme)

Research indicates that small to medium companies are generally ignoring the Duty of Care legislation or not implementing it in a way to produce an acceptable audit trail to prove compliance.

Employers must accept that the emphasis in managing employees driving on company business in their own vehicles has shifted from cost to safety.
You now need to consider safety and maintenance of vehicles, different working practices, training and the introduction of stricter methods of measurement in order to provide the required accurate audit trail. The emphasis should be on an anti- accident culture.
It is unlikely these measures will push up costs and many employers are reporting a reduction in costs due to tighter management of policies and procedures.

• A comprehensive road safety policy
• Road safety management procedures – risk assessment and implementation of safe practices that eradicate or minimize identified risks
• Staff must be given relevant information, training and supervision to be safe on the road
• Regular audits of the safety of journeys – ability to amend policies/procedures if new risks identified

The HSE and Police will now assess whether the risks faced were foreseeable and beyond the direct control of the driver in the event of an accident. The police now ask the question 'what was the purpose of the journey' in investigation of any motoring incident. If the answer is the journey was work related then you may be at risk of an investigation by the authorities regarding your implementation of the Health & Safety issues.
Was the driver fully competent to drive? Was the vehicle poorly maintained? Was the driver not fit due to medical reasons, stress, long hours etc.
The police will look at the following:-

• why was the vehicle at the scene
• condition of the vehicle (company & private)
• driver - signs of fatigue/health etc
• is the vehicle/driver legal – Maintenance, Licence, Mot, Insurance etc
• can you show an audit trail within your company to demonstrate policy/procedure for both driver and vehicle that complies with Health & Safety best practice

1. Company car user – company insurance to cover business use. Does it cover business use by the spouse if he/she borrows the car?
2. Private car – does the insurance cover business use by the employee? If not, then dayinsure.com professional can provide occasional use as required Note: Any driving at work is “business” if the employee is acting for the business i.e. Bank run, going to the shop to get milk/staples etc

1. Company vehicle – ensure it is roadworthy, tyres etc, regular servicing, MOT certificate if required, Road Tax, windscreen washer not empty etc
2. Private car – exactly the same responsibility exists for the company. How can you check regular service history etc and roadworthy condition? yourdutyofcare.com can ensure compliance with these requirements from employees in own vehicles

1. His/Her medical status – policies to take into account the health and fitness of the driver – fatigue, alcohol, drugs, eyesight, and stress. What are the warning signs?
2. Written guidelines issued by all employees driving on company business – exactly what does the company expect of the employees when driving on company business? The Highway Code – employees sign statements declaring compliance
3. Vehicle allocation – ability of the employee to handle the vehicle which is regarded as company equipment. Risk management assessment with regard to suitability for any employee. Should a 21 year old drive a powerful car?
4. Hours behind the wheel – As an employer, take steps to ensure commercial pressures do not pressurize employees to overstep the time behind the wheel. Ensure procedures are in place to guide employees on regular rest periods and refreshments. You should keep an eye out for signs of fatigue prior to the employee going out on the road. The true working day includes the time traveling and the appointment. An audit trail is required to record the hours an employee spends on company business including traveling time etc
5. Driving licences – check all driving licences on a regular basis, annually at least and record this. The same checks are required for authorized drivers i.e. spouse and for private cars. Introduce a mandatory requirement for employees to notify the company of endorsements. It is your duty to know the status of the employee’s licence

It is estimated that there are 5 million privately owned vehicles being used on company business.

There are only 3 million company cars. It is clear you will be expected to apply your duty of care to these drivers regardless of vehicle ownership.

You must protect your company from any possible prosecution by implementing policies and procedures for these drivers. Carry out a review to see who actually needs to drive on company business, reduce the numbers – reduce the risk.

You will need procedures to gather information about the driver’s licence, insurance, vehicle roadworthy-ness (regularly reviewed) and maintain it in an accurate database, checks and balances that an employee must agree, in writing to abide by.

Show you have done all that is reasonably possible to ensure these employees drive in accordance with the legislation.

You must pay as much attention to these drivers as you would to the traditional company cars.

An audit trail must show recordings of all relevant information, notifications, company policies and the employee’s awareness of them.

This includes policies to cover mobile telephones, I-pods and satellite navigation.

Your policy should prohibit the use of hand held mobiles whilst driving. Hands free systems must be regarded as a minimum.

If the office calls an employee whilst driving are they expected to answer? What is your policy?

Your policy must prohibit the use of Text Messaging and any Internet Access whilst driving.

At the present time this does not extend to cover employees driving cars on company business. However there is still a requirement for employers to monitor working hours or face the consequences should an employee driving on company business be found to be subject to fatigue that resulted in a serious or fatal accident.

Employees driving on company business are more likely to be involved in a fatal accident due to the high mileage factor. The 60 hours in any single week ruling will apply to UK employees. You should have strict control over employees “driver” hours.

If it is proven that long working hours contributed to the accident, the implications for the employer would be far reaching. Your records will be crucial in any investigation. Lack of them will not be accepted as an excuse.

The law requires companies to be assured employees can handle a particular vehicle used on company business. Driver training is a positive step, which can lead to financial savings i.e. lower insurance premiums, improved claims record etc. You should consider carrying out a driver assessment program. These highlight risk factors in a drivers approach to driving, which can be addressed by the company. It also highlights areas for training. Driver training initiatives can be expensive but ultimately will lead to financial benefits i.e. lower insurance, less accidents, better fuel economy, and reduction is vehicle wear & tear and improved vehicle residual values.

dutyofcare.com is an innovative software package that enables you to meet your duty of care responsibilities and therefore protect yourself from the possibility of a successful prosecution by the authorities for any breach of such responsibilities by utilising a clear, evidenced based audit trail of compliance within the programme.

The consequences of such a prosecution can be extremely punitive with financial penalties of an extreme nature.

Your business can register to use the software on line for a small monthly fee. This enables you to record all required information, comply with the relevant legislation and to produce a clear audit trail demonstrating such compliance, which can be accessed by you at any time. The programme is updated, in real time, accommodating any further changes in either the law or the courts interpretation of the law. You can leave all the complicated law issues to us and, provided the information is kept up to date within the programme, you can be confident that you will not be accused of failing in your legal obligations to your employees or other third parties.

The principle onus in providing relevant information within the programme rests with your employees. You just have to ensure they know their responsibilities when driving vehicles on company business including using their login to the programme diligently. All of this is explained in follow up policies and procedures once you are registered with the programme.

The programme provides appropriate prompts on required information and alerts if there is any non-compliance. It ensures your employees sign up to your company policies and procedures, thus complying with your obligations under the law. It also takes the headache of responding to the ever-changing legal minefield within the Duty of Care legislation applying to employees driving a vehicle on company business.

dayinsure.com limited is the innovator and market leader in short term motor insurance and web based interactive solutions for businesses. We have a solicitor with 16 years legal experience on the board. George Emmerson and Jackie Pomfrett of Fleet 21 wrote the contents of the programme and are widely known for their expertise in the field of Duty of Care as the legislation applies to employees driving on company business. We doubt if there is anyone else out there with more knowledge than Fleet21 in this area from a business/fleet perspective.

You can be sure that the software contents will be accurate and updated as changes in the law take place.

What do you have to do to get the benefits of this unique product?

Click here to go to the registration page where you will be taken through a simple registration process to open your account for your business. A direct debit is set up for the monthly payments. You then have access to the full benefits of the web site protected by your secure password. You operate the site from your office and your designated employee’s access via an email link to their pages to update your records as required. There is a very small fee payable for each update regarding employee/driving input and you are alerted to any non-compliance.

The employee records company business journeys undertaken by a private car on the system using a unique sign-in facility. Checks are also made to ensure total compliance with driving licence data and any updates to the legislation as and when it occurs.

The company can access the information and obtain reports on activity as required.

If necessary any private mileage can be recorded by the employee and linked to the payroll automatically for expense purposes.

Finally, all this gives you, as the company, genuine peace of mind knowing you have clear accurate systems in place that meet the needs of the business and protection against an allegation that you have breached your Duty of Care responsibilities.

Through this web site you or your employees can purchase daily car/van insurance to cover occasional business use not covered under an annual insurance policy. This is competitively priced at £5 per day and can be purchased in minutes, on line, by a number of payment options. The insurance is underwritten by Norwich Union and is fully comprehensive. Up to 3 additional drivers can be added for £5 to take care of shared driving arrangements on longer business journeys.