The Drive for Safety
Just over a week into it and the dark which surrounds most of us as we go to and from work is already making it seem like a long winter.
But the descent into darkness aside, the changing of the clock also signifies the beginning of what can be a grim and challenging time for drivers, facing not only the hazards of driving in the dark but a decline in daylight hours which will no doubt be coupled with all the nasties that winter conditions have to throw at us.
Driving is one of the most dangerous work activities which most of us face as employees, a statement borne out by government research which shows that around a third of all road traffic accidents involve someone who is at work at the time – that equates to more than 20 people and 220 seriously injured every week.
Many businesses however are unaware that they have a number of legal responsibilities when it comes to work-related road safety and that those responsibilities go well beyond the basics of making sure company vehicles have an MOT and that drivers have a valid licence.
The view of the Health & Safety Executive is that health and safety law applies to on-the-road work activities just as much as it applies to all other work activities – and that is the same whether you are self-employed or are responsible for your company’s fleet management.
But the responsibility to help cut the number of accidents on our roads lies with all of us because it affects us all. Most of us will use the road every day as a driver, a passenger, a cyclist, a pedestrian and we all have not only work colleagues but friends and family who are also on the roads every day.
That’s why the Chamber is focussing on road safety as the next element of its Transport Campaign which has been running throughout the year.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to raise awareness of the issue and will be working with members and other organisations to encourage initiatives which will help improve road safety and will support the Scottish Government’s targets of reducing road deaths by 30% by 2015 and by 40% by 2020.
Information and advice on employers’ responsibilities towards their employees are published in the HSE document, Driving at Work – Managing work-related road safety, which can be downloaded at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf
Some other points worth considering are:
Employers owe the same duty of care under health and safety law to staff who drive their own vehicles for work as they do to employees who drive company owned, leased or hired vehicles.
Around 10 people are killed and 50 seriously injured in drink drive crashes every week.
Research shows that using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving is a significant distraction, and substantially increases the risk of the driver crashing.
High mileage and company car drivers are more likely than most to use a mobile phone while driving.
It is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. It is also an offence to “cause or permit” a driver to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. Employers can be held liable as well as the individual driver if they require employees to use a hand-held phone while driving.
Company car drivers and people who drive high annual mileages for work are up to 50% more likely to crash than private motorists.
Approximately two-thirds of all crashes in which people are killed or injured happen on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less.
Other priorities in the Chamber’s campaign have focussed on the importance of maintaining and improving the region’s transport infrastructure by road, rail and air.
The campaign has included a business breakfast with keynote speaker Stewart Stevenson, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, partnership projects with key transport providers and agencies and a series of high profile features in the Chamber’s Business Bulletin magazine and in the print and broadcast media.
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