ROADSAFE - A Partnership in Road Safety

A wake-up call to the driving industry

The Department for Transport estimates that some 300 deaths per year are caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Meanwhile, one of Britain’s largest trade unions has launched a campaign calling for regulation of chauffeurs’ hours. Ashley Martin highlights the debate and looks for examples of best practice

Company executives are jeopardising the safety of themselves, their chauffeurs and all road users by encouraging their drivers to work up to 70 hours a week and putting them under pressure to work even longer hours.

Chauffeurs claim that in the majority of cases their working hours are not adequately monitored, and regulations regarding their hours are not disseminated to them or enforced. Now the GMB Union, which is the fourth-largest trade union in the UK, and represents over 600,000 members across the public and private sectors, has launched a campaign involving its 103-sponsored MPs demanding action to combat tiredness and thereby improve safety for chauffeurs working in the private hire sector of the road transport industry.

The GMB campaign calls for:

A full enquiry into the long hours culture of the chauffeur industry.
Better collection of crash data by police to identify how many hours a driver had been travelling and/or working prior to the crash.
Research on what the taxi, private hire and chauffeur industry currently does to prevent tired driving and identification of best practice.
Application of the Working Time Regulations to the chauffeur industry and the end of the government’s opt-out from the rules.
Education of employers, employees, agencies and the travelling public.
Consideration given to the introduction of a requirement for taxis, private hire and chauffeur-driven vehicles to be fitted with tachographs to record their working hours.
More effective enforcement of existing laws and regulations, with greater numbers of enforcement officers dedicated to roads’ policing.

“While their bosses enjoy multi-million pound incomes the drivers are paid not much more than the national minimum wage”

Terry Flanagan, GMB branch secretary and a London private hire driver, says: “We are in constant contact with our members who are chauffeurs and they are told by the executives for whom they work ‘drive or you’re sacked’.” A survey of chauffeur drivers by the GMB discovered that many hours are clocked up outside hotels and restaurants waiting for bosses to be ready to be driven to their next engagement. The chauffeurs say they are often expected to take the boss home in the early hours and be back on duty after very few hours of sleep.

“While their bosses enjoy multi-million pound incomes the drivers are paid not much more than the national minimum wage,” says Mr Flanagan. “Many companies using chauffeur services are either not interested or aware of the demands that are being made by executives on their drivers.

“We are not prepared to tolerate the hours that chauffeurs are being asked to work. We want the Working Time opt out removed and this outrageous practice stamped out to protect chauffeurs and the public at large.” Under the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 working time is limited to an average 48-hour week, normally calculated over a four-month period; a maximum 60 hours can be worked in a single week, providing the average 48-hour limit is not exceeded; daily rest breaks of 11 consecutive hours must be taken in any 24-hour period; weekly rest periods of 24 consecutive hours in any seven-day period must be taken; specific rules govern length and frequency of rest breaks during a working day and working time records will need to be kept by employers for two years.

The GMB Union says that chauffeur drive companies should be applying best practice occupational road risk to their procedures; while companies who buy-in chauffeur services should demand to see written evidence of their supplier’s health and safety regime and undertake spot checks on chauffeurs to find out how many hours they are working and how many days off they have.

“Tiredness is thought to cause around 10 deaths per week on Britain's roads”

Reflecting on the 2001 Selby rail disaster caused by Land Rover driver Gary Hart, who was jailed for five years after falling asleep at the wheel of his vehicle which subsequently left the M62 and ploughed onto a railway line where it was hit by a train, resulting in the deaths of 10 people, Mr Flanagan says: “Tiredness is thought to cause around 10 deaths per week on Britain’s roads and around a fifth of accidents on motorways and trunk roads. It is calculated that sleep claims more lives on Britain’s roads than drink-driving. Our information is that bosses couldn’t care less about their chauffeurs. All they want is someone to drive them about at the cheapest price possible. That culture must change.”

Fact file

Tiredness and driving are a potentially lethal combination

Tired drivers cause over 20% of motorway accidents and 10% of all road accidents.
Sleepiness causes more crashes than alcohol-related accidents.
Such accidents are twice as likely to result in death or serious injury owing to the usually high impact speed.
Every day in the UK there is at least one fatal crash involving sleepy drivers.
Falling asleep at the wheel is always preceded by feelings of increased sleepiness, to the point of “fighting sleep”, when drivers open the window, turn up the audio system or “push” against the steering wheel – all useless acts in fighting fatigue.
Instead, drivers should stop, take a break and have a strongly caffeinated drink followed by a 15-minute snooze before the caffeine kicks in.

Source: Loughborough Sleep Research Centre

Headline data from the survey, entitled “Safety and Security in the Taxi, Private Hire and Chauffeur Industry” found that:

50% of the drivers interviewed worked an average of 70 hours or more a week.
60% of drivers interviewed have experienced some form of weekly coercion to work more hours than they should from their subcontractor or “employer”.
100% of the drivers that felt victimised also felt that if they refused to undertake a job, even if it was at the end of a shift and they were tired, there would be repercussions. They also felt they would be further victimised by their employer who would retaliate by discriminating against them in the type of work they were given.
Nearly 60% of the drivers interviewed said the average length of their workday was 11 hours or more – a clear indication, says the union, that they are not getting enough rest periods.
Drivers made little connection between the length of the working day and inadequacy of the rest periods.
Although drivers are not getting enough rest between shifts, many are not aware of the danger a lack of sleep presents to them, their passengers and other road users.
There was a widespread misconception that accumulating rest periods throughout the working week would compensate for the inadequate rest taken after individual long shifts.
There was no evidence of knowledge or training on the increased risk of accidents created by the lack of sleep or inadequate rest periods.

Bert Schouwenburg, GMB organiser of the GMB Professional Drivers Branch, said: “How many deaths on our roads are due directly to sleep deprivation as a result of the pressure put on professional drivers by their employers to work long hours? The government must take action on our recommendations and enforce the laws that are designated to protect all road users.”

Case study

Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services is the biggest chauffeur drive company in the UK, completing over 400,000 journeys a year for over 400 clients including blue chip corporations, city institutions and major airlines. Driving assessments based on IAM standards, tight monitoring of drivers’ hours, advice on taking breaks to avoid fatigue and the use of in-car telematics for a variety of reasons, including health and safety, all form part of a major duty-of-care procedure.

Tristar’s head of human resources Mikki Sidebottom says: “All chauffeurs undertake a full induction training programme, lasting a minimum of six days, as well as refresher training. The training focuses on customer service, health and safety issues, systems training, a driving assessment and an IAM driving risk assessment.” During their employment, all drivers are regularly re-assessed and that forms part of a risk assessment programme with levels of continual monitoring based upon the level of risk.

Chauffeur hours vary but, with flexible shift patterns, the average week is about 52 hours with limits based on the maximum weekly working time, shift working time, maximum time for driving without a break and minimum rest periods. Ms Sidebottom says: “If a driver works more hours than Tristar consider the maximum then this will be addressed and reviewed with the chauffeur by the chauffeur team leader. Tristar bases its maximum breaks, working time agreements etc on a document agreed with the GMB.”

Tristar offers a two-tier service. The executive service is A to B transfers that typically include pick-up or drop-off at an airport or business meeting. Major customers include airlines offering a complimentary service to their first and business class passengers and financial services and related organisations; the premium service is a luxury service, which offers administrative support and a trained and experienced chauffeur who acts as an on-board personal assistant. Main customers are financial institutions and “high net worth” individuals.

“Although not driving, Tristar counts waiting time as working time”

Whatever the type of journey chauffeurs can be left waiting outside hotels or company headquarters while meetings are in progress. Although not driving, Tristar counts waiting time as working time. “The company pays an hourly rate and therefore time from starting to finishing the day is counted as working time. The working time for chauffeurs includes ‘commuting time’ from the time they left home to the time they return,” explains Ms Sidebottom.

“As part of their training, chauffeurs are taught to look out for signs of fatigue and are issued a ‘Chauffeurs Health and Safety Guide’, which reminds them of the importance of not driving while tired and of taking a break between the second and third hour when driving, or more frequently at night.” Telematics units are fitted to Tristar cars for a number of reasons – from a health and safety perspective to monitor working hours, speeds driven and chauffeur locations in the event of an emergency; for efficiency to aid the most effective distribution of work; and to ensure top-notch customer service is provided by identifying possible delays in advance and exacting a proactive response.

Amid claims by the GMB Union that some company bosses “don’t care” about how many hours chauffeurs drive and put them under pressure to work long hours, Ms Sidebottom says: “In our sector of the market most customers define health and safety standards. However, with some notable exceptions, there is a tendency for those responsible for procurement to treat chauffeur drive as a commodity and base procurement decisions mainly on price. Where Tristar has been particularly successful is in winning contracts with companies which scratch beneath the surface and take a more demanding look at health and safety and service standards.”

Case study

Newly-qualified drivers employed by Aerchauffeur.com are pictured after receiving their IAM advanced driving certificates

Irish executive limousine transportation company, Aerchauffeur.com, believes it is the only specialist chauffeur drive company in the country and therefore unique in putting its drivers through a bespoke training programme. Launched just over 12 months ago, Aerchauffeur.com now has more than 30 uniformed chauffeurs all of whom have been through a comprehensive IAM Fleet training programme leading up to them taking the IAM advanced driving test.

The modular training programme is run over five stages, including: a 90-minute risk assessment, a halfday seminar – where the chauffeurs learn all about the various aspects of such specialist driving including hazard awareness, chauffeur drive etiquette and customer service – and two half-day on-road training sessions on a one-to-one trainer/driver ratio. The focus of the latter is to prepare the chauffeurs for their IAM test – the final link in the chain. Additionally, Aerchauffeur.com’s own induction course sees each driver being given a detailed overview of the vehicle they will drive and the “do’s and don’ts” of best practice customer service. To-date one person has had their job terminated because they failed to reach the driving standard required.

“In every industry there is on-thejob training, but for professional drivers training is the exception rather than the rule”

Managing director Alan Clarke says: “We are the only true chauffeur drive company in Ireland and since launching we have had many compliments from customers on the driving skills of our drivers. Additionally, our drivers appreciate the investment we are making in them not only from a career perspective, but also how the skills they are learning and developing can help in their private life.” With a background of more than 20 years in the taxi industry Mr Clarke says: “In every industry there is on-thejob training, but for professional drivers training is the exception rather than the rule. Yet, driving is one of the few jobs in which someone could be killed. Training should be compulsory.”

He hopes that by ensuring all the company’s chauffeurs undertake IAM training Aerchauffeur.com will change the face of chauffeuring in Ireland. Until the launch of the company he says most chauffeurs operated on a freelance basis. Not only does he see his role as raising chauffeuring standards, but he also believes companies need educating as to the role that chauffeurs can play in the implementation of at-work road safety. Mr Clarke explains: “Companies that use our service understand that their valuable senior staff can work during a journey and arrive at their destination for an important meeting stress free. Then, after a lengthy and often complex meeting they do not face the trauma of having to drive themselves back to the office or home with their safety jeopardised as they think about work and are not fully focused on driving.

“It is a difficult argument for businesses to understand, but those who get the message understand that chauffeurs have a key role to play in improving road safety from a corporate health and safety perspective.” The chauffeur drive company hopes to have 100 cars on the road within two years. Its fleet of vehicles comprises top-of-the-range Volvo S80s, all of which feature in-car entertainment, mini fridge and connections for laptops.

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