Your drivers, your duty of care.

 

Driver trainers regularly meet van drivers who are not aware of the differing speed limits these vehicles have compared to a car, some seem to assume that because you can drive them having only passed the car driving test all vehicles that fall in the B category have the same limit.

Now it would be easy to blame the driver for not being aware of the law, but if their driving for work, the employer also has a duty of care to not only ensure their employees do not put themselves at risk with any work place activity, but to also ensure that they do not put members of the public at risk.

As with any tool, machinery or procedure that an employee undertakes the employer needs to preform a risk assessment and provide training as needed, I strongly believe that driving is still massively neglected compared to other activities and the chance to promote an ethos of professionalism throughout the work force is lost if not carried out before handing over the keys.

Driving a van is not only a matter of driving with a reduced speed limit, but also manoeuvring is more of a challenge with no visibility to the rear; this is also easily rectified with some simple techniques that reduce the risk of costly collisions.

A business owner or manager could of course carry out these tasks themselves, but is it the best use of their time? Most times using a professional driver trainer will coach your drivers to be efficient with fuel and reduce wear and tear, redeeming the cost of the training, and supply you with a risk assessment and training record for you to keep in the employees file.

Please visit the HSE web side for guidance Managing work-related road safety