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01243 870600
Vehicle and staff safety is your responsibility, you need to show your commitment to the welfare of your employees. We’ve already discussed the importance of risk assessments, daily car and van checks and preventative maintenance inspections in our blog ‘how to protect your vehicles and your business’.
This blog shares the steps you need to take to ensure your employees are fit to drive, and aware of their responsibilities when it comes to fleet safety.
As a business owner you need to ensure your remain safety conscious in your everyday decisions. In order to ensure your employees are also attentive regarding safety you should:
Hold regular (weekly or monthly) meetings with employees and safety representatives (if applicable) to discuss current work activities and associated safety issues.
Make regular and obvious tours of the workplace, including inspections of vehicles, roadways and behaviour, to check that there are no obvious hazards in the workplace and that staff are following safe working practices.
Report on both good and bad features of managing risks in the workplace.
Make sure that formal or informal work-related discussions with employees always include safety issues.
Whether you as a business owner are responsible for transport safety, or you’ve got an allocated fleet manager it is important that people are held accountable.
You and your managers need to ensure that individuals are held responsible for their duties (i.e. daily vehicle checks), and understand the consequences if they fail to execute these adequately.
Recruiting drivers
You must ensure that the drivers you recruit are physically and mentally fit to drive and competent to do the work. Your employees (drivers) must also understand that it is their legal duty to be fit to drive, and declare any changes which may impact this.
At A Glance, published by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, gives more detailed guidance on assessing medical fitness to drive. To be certain of ensuring employee safety you may want assistance from an occupational health practitioner.
The driver recruitment process:
When recruiting drivers you will need to ask yourself the following questions.
What skills and knowledge does the person need?
How will we assess their competence before they start work?
What certificates and qualifications do they need for the vehicle they are operating?
How will we check that these are valid and up-to-date?
Will the person need additional training?
What safety signs and signals do they need to know?
Can they understand and follow instructions for safe working?
Think of how you will assess and check these criteria, and do not take shortcuts. In a study of deaths and injuries involving site dumpers by the Health & Safety Executive, fewer than half of the employers had bothered to check the driver’s competence. Never take for granted a person’s ability to do a task safely.
Your role as a business owner
In addition to requirements for your employees, you must also ensure your vehicles are fit for purpose and well maintained. A&D Group offer a hassle free and flexible vehicle maintenance programme, designed to alleviate the stress of fleet management and ensure the safety of your staff.
Need help with recruitment or Health and Safety?
The HR Dept supports business owners with all aspects of recruitment (Job descriptions, person specifications, adverts and interview questions so that you do not inadvertently discriminate against potential candidates). They can also assist with the induction and training of new staff, ensuring that they understand the necessary Health and Safety requirements.
The content for this blog was kindly provided by Susan Beeby at the HR Dept.
