Driving for Better Business (DfBB) has created a new resource to help fleet-using companies better address their legal responsibilities and keep drivers safe.
More than a quarter of UK firms recently surveyed, whose employees drive for work, have no policy, and more than a quarter have not reviewed their policy in the past three years.
Driving for work is statistically the most dangerous activity employees undertake. Up to a third of all road traffic incidents involve someone who is driving for work at the time – accounting for some 500 fatalities and almost 40,000 injuries a year.
With the new, free, Driving for Work Policy Builder, companies can use a template to create a legally compliant document that can be adapted to their own needs and shared with all employees.
DfBB is an award-winning programme run by National Highways to help employers in both the private and public sectors reduce work-related road risk.
DfBB says it has spotted a rising trend in online searches where users were looking for guidance on safe operation of employees out on the road.
It adds that proof of a driving for work policy that meets legal and compliance standards is also increasingly becoming a requirement when tendering for new work.
Simon Turner, campaign manager for Driving for Better Business, said: “Our Driving for Work Policy Builder has the potential to deliver a huge positive impact on how employers think about driver safety – especially those, and there are many, that currently have no driver policy at all.
“It will help employers create, review, and update their own policy and it will cover all the key relevant risks for managing policies, drivers, vehicles and journeys. With a template and checklist, it covers all the key risks of most fleets, and can be adapted to individual companies.”
@Hugh Jones – Driving for work isn’t the cause but an employer’s driving for work policy is part of eradicating likely causes such as speeding, impairment, distraction or fatigue.
The point of the article is that this is a free online tool for the employers of those driving for work and hopefully assists in managing them better to reduce the third of collision that involve someone driving for work. These employers have no ability to influence the other two thirds.
I disagree that journey purpose is a red herring as it helps us to target interventions at particular groups of road users in an effective way.
Simon Turner, London
+1
“Up to a third of all road traffic incidents involve someone who is driving for work at the time…” That may be true, but it is not the ’cause’ of the incident is it? The cause is not necessarily any different from the many causes of traffic incidents involving drivers NOT driving for work, which is apparently two-thirds. It seems to be a bit of a red herring emphasising the reason for the journey. People driving for pleasure or non-work reasons can be just as recklees or careless as those driving for work.
Hugh Jones, South Wirral
+2