The noose around boards of directors that fail to implement managing occupational road risk policies is tightening as an ever-increasing amount of legislation is targeting not just errant drivers but also company directors.

The new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, in force from 6 April 2008, offers a six-month window of opportunity for company directors to ‘get their house in order’. The alternative is to face the consequences of an unlimited fine and detrimental media coverage in the event of a fatal road crash involving an at-work driver.

Meanwhile, the government continues to push through a raft of legislation aimed at improving road safety and reducing the number of road crashes involving at-work drivers. Department for Transport data suggests that 200 fatalities and serious injuries a week on Britain’s roads involve someone at work.

Earlier this year the government doubled the fine for the use of a hand-held mobile phone while driving to £60 and made the offence subject to three penalty points.
This autumn, following a public consultation, the Crown Prosecution Service is expected to press for tougher sentences for many motor-related offences. Continuing public concern about the dangers of driving while using a mobile phone means that a charge of dangerous driving will now be the starting point for this offence, where there is clear evidence that danger has been caused by its use. The maximum penalty for dangerous driving is two years jail.

More detailed guidance for prosecutors is also expected on when it is appropriate to charge manslaughter instead of a lesser offence so that the correct charge is chosen from the start. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is life in prison.

A separate consultation on the introduction of so-called ‘graduated fines’ for speeding motorists is imminent. The measure was outlined in the 2006 Road Safety Act and is likely to result in motorists caught driving at significantly above the speed limit being handed six penalty points instead of the current three leading to a potential ban after two offences instead of the current four.

Meanwhile, in September a host of tough new penalties for rogue drivers came into force. These included the penalty for drivers failing to provide information about the identity of a driver increasing from three penalty points to six, and penalty points received for failing to allow a sample to be subjected to a laboratory test remaining on a licence for 11 years instead of four.

Meanwhile, the maximum fine for careless or inconsiderate driving has been doubled to £5,000 and the maximum fine for not ensuring that children in the rear seat of vehicles are wearing seat belts has increased from £200 to £500.

A person using a vehicle in a dangerous condition for the second time in four years can now be disqualified from driving for not less than six months. The maximum penalty for failing to stop a vehicle operated mechanically, if requested to by a police officer has increased from £1,000 to £5,000. The upshot of all this legislation is that employees are likely to lose their driving licences quicker than ever before ­ but will you as a director know?

The impact on companies of crashes alone is immense ­ cancelled meetings, lost business and damaged customer relations not to mention higher fleet operating costs, rocketing insurance premiums and a host of unwanted administration, never mind the impact on a company of ‘losing’ employees in fatal road crashes, to prison sentences or to driving bans.

Every company should have a nominated director responsible for corporate health and safety including at-work driving and that could be the financial director.

In the event of a serious and perhaps fatal crash involving an occupational driver, police officers will be looking for evidence of why the vehicle was at the scene, the mechanical condition of that vehicle and the physical condition of the driver.

It is therefore imperative that companies are able to provide investigating police officers with comprehensive information. This includes such data as being able to prove that frequent vehicle safety checks are undertaken, vehicles are serviced in accordance with manufacturer warranties and driving licences are monitored.

Companies should also remember that health and safety responsibility for at-work drivers rests with them irrespective of who owns the vehicle being driven on business. Therefore, it is essential that staff who drive their own cars on business are included in all checks and policies

The starting point for directors of companies that run business vehicles and have yet to implement occupational road risk management policies should be the Health and Safety Executive’s document ‘Driving at work - Managing Work-related Road Safety’ guidance. It details the steps directors and senior managers should take to responsibly manage driving at work health and safety effectively.

As an initial step, all employers should check the validity of driving licences. Most employers assume that if a member of staff or a new employee has a driving licence the individual can legally drive. That is not always the case. Driving licences of prospective employees should be checked against the DVLA database at the recruitment stage and a reporting system to check the licences of existing employees is essential.

Having undertaken the DVLA check, many companies use the reports received as the trigger for additional risk assessments and driver training, particularly in the case of employees who already have points on their licence.

In the event of a serious road crash the director responsible for managing at-work driving health and safety will be asked to provide a comprehensive audit trail of drivers, vehicles and journey schedules to show that a risk management strategy is in place. A failure to do so will result in lengthy hours of questioning with the possibility of a damaging court case on the horizon.

It is not just criminal actions that may result from a serious at-work road crash, but civil claims for damages against companies are a serious likelihood. Companies that have failed to put in place legal safeguards may find themselves the subject of litigation from injured employees and third parties.

Every company that has implemented an occupational road risk management policy has reaped numerous benefits ­ financial and moral in terms of being viewed by staff as a caring employer ­ as well as making themselves legally compliant. In today’s litigious environment can your business afford not to put in place occupational road risk management procedures?

Jason Francis is MD of risk management and fleet software experts Jaama