“There are many others who, because of their experience and expertise, are better placed to deal with road-related issues than the HSE”

Consequently, says an HSE spokesman: “There are many others who, because of their experience and expertise, are better placed to deal with road-related issues than the HSE. For example, the police and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, who administer and enforce road traffic legislation.”

The HSE’s guidance to businesses on managing occupational road safety effectively kicked-off with the September 2003 publication of Driving at Work: Managing Work-Related Road Safety (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf), which should be the first point of reference for all companies seeking to introduce a comprehensive at-work risk management strategy. Since then, a whole raft of publications and leaflets have been produced detailing various aspects of workplace road safety (www.hse.gov.uk), with the most recent being publicity produced in conjunction with the Department for Transport’s Think! campaign (www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk), as shown on these pages.

The Driving at Work leaflet outlines ways to manage at-work road risk and the benefits to fleet decision-makers, fellow employees and companies in helping keep costs down. In terms of education, the leaflet says: “As an employer, manager or supervisor you have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all employees while they are at work. Health and safety law applies to on-the-road work activities as it does to all work activities. “The true costs of crashes to organisations are nearly always higher than just the costs of repairs and insurance claims. The benefits to you, your employees and the company from managing work-related road safety can be considerable whatever the size of your business.”

Some of the benefits are:

• Fewer days lost due to injury
• Reduced risk of work-related ill-health
• Reduced stress and improved morale
• Less need for investigation and paperwork
• Reduced lost time due to work rescheduling
• Fewer vehicles off the road for repair
• Reduced running costs through better driving standards
• Fewer missed orders and business opportunities
• Less chance of key employees being banned from driving, for example as a result of points on their licences

“The aim is to make the risk of someone being injured or killed as low as possible”

The publicity explains that the starting point for managing work-related road safety is to conduct a risk assessment – an examination of what at-work activities can cause harm to people. “The aim is to make the risk of someone being injured or killed as low as possible. When evaluating the risks, consideration should be given to the driver, the vehicle and the journey.”

The DfT/HSE says that there are also a number of things that all drivers can do to ensure their own safety and employers can contribute by reminding employees to:

• Plan journeys and make time for a break every two hours of driving
• Always wear a seatbelt, even on a short journey
• Switch off mobile phones before they drive off

Currently, the HSE is involved in a dialogue with ACPO to draw up a protocol in relation to the investigation of serious at-work road crashes including fatalities. The additional guidance, says the HSE, will supplement advice already contained in the police’s Road Death Investigation Manual. Instrumental in increasing the focus of government, police and HSE on at-work road safety was the Work-related Road Safety Task Group (WRRSTG), which reported its findings in November 2001 and made 18 recommendations. Many of the recommendations focused on the HSE leading a public information campaign with the DfT, developing guidance and leading the development of a co-ordinated approach among authorities to taking enforcement action. The report also called on the police to pursue employers who “fail to meet their responsibilities under road traffic law, prosecuting as appropriate”.

One of the major recommendations of the WRRSTG report was that road accident police report forms (Stats19) should include questions about journey purposes to help establish whether a crash involved at-work drivers. In the spring, the new Stats19 report forms were introduced and were immediately acclaimed by the Royal

“While it is clear the HSE is not taking a sledgehammer to crack down on the number of at-work driving crashes, it is equally obvious that it is involved in a plethora of initiatives”

Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) “as a major boost for the campaign to manage occupational road risk”. Although introduced more than four years after being recommended, the HSE says it is an example of authorities actually working together. Charles Davis, RoSPA’s head of driver and fleet solutions, says: “It is now widely accepted that the most dangerous thing most people do while at work is to drive, but precise casualty figures have been unavailable until now. “We are delighted to learn that police officers attending road accidents are for the first time recording if the journey was for work purposes. This will give us accurate information about the number of work-related road accidents, and will also act as a warning to employers about the responsibility they have to keep their drivers safe.”

The first figures are expected to be published for the first time next year and Mr Davis says: “We think this will prove once and for all that this is the biggest work-related safety issue facing the country.” Looking to the future and an issue which the HSE may pick up on in terms of another lever to encourage fleets to take action, Mr Davis says: “If that is the case [work-related road safety is the biggest issue facing the country], serious consideration will have to be given to a Health and Safety at Work Act Approved Code of Practice on driving for work so that companies will understand they will face legal action if they don’t meet their responsibilities.”

A further call from the WRRSTG was for the HSE to consider how the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) could be utilised in terms of at-work traffic casualties. The Health and Safety Commission’s consultation on the review of RIDDOR has just concluded. It did look at whether work-related road traffic incidents should be reportable under RIDDOR and the likely impact and costs on business if this was introduced.

The consultation document says that reports could be used to target investigations by enforcing authorities and would also encourage businesses to manage work-related road safety as part of their health and safety programme. The HSE will now consider responses to the consultation document. While it is clear the HSE is not taking a sledgehammer to crack down on the number of at-work driving crashes, it is equally obvious that it is involved in initiatives that dovetail together to ensure that companies that don’t take occupational road risk seriously are penalised. The reporting mechanisms in place and being put in place are aimed at weeding out firms that operate in an unsafe environment. For more information, visit: www.hse.gov.uk