Jim Kirkwood

“The noose is tightening around the neck of rogue fleets and that is the majority of companies in Britain”

The Home Office published its long-awaited draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill in the spring and responses to the impending legislation are now being considered. Although the Home Office refuses to be drawn on a timetable for the legislation to reach the statute book, DriveTech managing director Jim Kirkwood says: “The noose is tightening around the neck of rogue fleets and that is the majority of companies in Britain. Fleets that have failed to introduce best practice risk management measures are in the last chance saloon. Indeed, the business ramifications could be extremely serious.” Under current corporate killing legislation, prosecutors have to prove a single director was negligent in the event of a serious or fatal accident. That has proved virtually impossible and has thwarted a number of attempted prosecutions, so the new corporate manslaughter legislation has been drafted to target companies and organisations “whose gross failure at senior management levels results in a fatality”.

Legal experts say that, in the event of an at-work driver being involved in a fatal road accident, the prosecuting authorities will focus on the way in which occupational road risk was being managed. If a company has not carried out, for example, a risk assessment or has done so, but is paying lip service to it, then this could be construed as a failure to manage and court action could follow. One of the basic strands of managing occupational road risk is for safety-conscious fleets to conduct a comprehensive audit trail of drivers and their documentation – driving licences, vehicle registration forms, insurance and MoT certificates. Mr Kirkwood says: “Such a basic process is the Achilles heel for many fleets, particularly with the growing number of employees who drive their own cars on company business.”

Recently-published research by Bank of Scotland Vehicle Finance, following a survey of more than 1,600 company car drivers, revealed that 42% have between 1 and 10+ points on their licence and 68% of employers have never checked their employee’s driving licence or if they did it was only when they first joined the company.

“A driver assessment can provide the employer with a risk rating for each employee when they are driving”

To ensure that companies are minimising the corporate risk surrounding employees who drive at work, those who drive company vehicles and staff who drive their own cars and vans on business trips, it is essential that organisations create a “profile” for each driver, that has three basic elements:

• Is the employee a “legal” driver? By checking the “physical” licence, the employer can firstly confirm that a driver has a licence and then, in conjunction with a signed employee declaration form, view, check and record additional information such as driving convictions, insurance and MoT status of the vehicle. This information can also be used to identify how often driving licences need to be checked in future: high points, quarterly; low points, annually. In addition, licence details can be confirmed with the DVLA for 100% guarantee of validity if there is any doubt of the authenticity of employee documentation
• Is the employee a “suitable”’ driver? In addition to checking driving documentation and therefore confirming the “class” of vehicle the employee can drive, it is valuable to build a historical record of a driver by reviewing accident and medical history and eyesight limitations, which may affect an individual’s risk while driving
• Is the employee a “high-risk” driver? A driver assessment can provide the employer with a risk rating for each employee when they are driving. This can be performed during the interview or induction process to highlight potentially “high-risk” drivers or to identify individual training needs for existing staff.

Assessments often take the form of an IT-based questionnaire that identifies driver knowledge, attitude and experience Mr Kirkwood says: “Taken together, a complete driver profile can be created which can then be used to identify and recommend future training needs and highlight areas of risk. So while companies may be able to check that drivers have a valid licence, it is important to note that this is only one small, but significant, part of a comprehensive and pro-active road risk strategy.”

For further information, visit: Website: www.drivetech.co.uk