Driver Risk Management - Your Responsibility

The government unveiled plans in 2004 to introduce a Corporate Manslaughter Bill which was set to hold companies accountable for serious accidents involving their drivers.  This bill was approved and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force on the 6th April 2008 across the UK.

The Act sets out a new offence for convicting an organisation where a gross failure in the way activities were managed or organised results in a person's death. This applies to a wide range of organisations across the public and private sectors. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the new offence is called corporate manslaughter, however in Scotland it is called corporate homicide.

Under a new approach, courts look at management systems and practices across the organisation, providing a more effective means for prosecuting the worst corporate failures to manage health and safety properly.

This is an opportunity for employers to think again about how risks are managed. The offence does not require organisations to comply with new regulatory standards. But organisations should ensure they are taking proper steps to meet current legal duties. The 2007 Act means that those who disregard the safety of others at work, with fatal consequences, are more vulnerable to very serious criminal charges.

For further clarification on the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 click here.

The HSE in conjunction with the Department for Transport has produced a 24 page document entitled 'Driving at Work'. This document identifies nearly 100 areas that need consideration to ensure all drivers on company business (whether driving a company vehicle or in their own vehicle) are safe on the road.

However, there are already existing laws in place. Click here to read these.

Smoking ban

July 1st 2007 saw the smoking ban in the workplace including company vehicles and in all enclosed public places, come into force in England.  This law is also in place in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

As this includes company transport, no smoking signs must be clearly displayed in all passenger compartments of the following vehicles:


The signs must be a minimum of 70mm diameter. 

Signs can be downloaded here and printed onto stickers.

You can also download a compliant sign for your offices from here.

As well as ensuring signs are displayed, you should have:


Lack of compliance could result in the following fines:

	Paid in 15 days of receipt	Paid in 15 – 29 days of receipt	Court fine
Failing to display correct signage (occupier or manager of the premises)	£150	£200	Up to £1000
Failing to prevent smoking in a smoke free place (manager of the smoke free premises or vehicle)			Up to £2500
Smoking in a smoke free place (smoker)	£30	£50	Up to £200

Road Safety Act 2006

Additional legislation that came into force in 2007 under the Road Safety Act 2006 includes:

• Increased fines and penalty points for using a hand held mobile phone whilst driving
• Increased fines and custodial sentences for causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving
• Increased fines and custodial sentences for causing death whilst unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured
• Fixed fines for being the registered keeper of an uninsured vehicle and the potential to have the vehicle removed and disposed of
• Graduated penalty points for speeding offences and the ability to enforce retraining of persistent speeders
• Tougher penalties for repeat drink driving offenders including retaking of driving tests
• Tougher treatment of foreign drivers who evade penalties for breaking UK law
• Improved training and assessment for young and inexperienced drivers, helping to improve standards
  
  

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