Five tips for driver safety

Driving for work is one of the riskiest things that employees can do, so keeping them and others safe while they are doing so is paramount. In the last fatality statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) nearly 15% of all deaths were caused by being struck by a moving vehicle. Let’s look at five tips for keeping everyone safe from harm whilst your employees are driving for work.

1. Training

By law employers are required to ensure every employee has received adequate training to safeguard themselves and others.

When employees are driving as part of their work, they should be trained to carry out the role safely. This may well include more than simply controlling a moving vehicle. Training should be specific to both their role and the vehicle they are using. It could also include things such as loading/unloading.

Keeping a training record should also be part of your practice. Keep these as part of your central record and include:

• Name
• Training history
• Training needs
• Planned training
• Details of the vehicles that the person is competent to operate

This training record should be accessible and checked routinely. Training should be refreshed regularly. Depending on the risks involved, refresher training should take place every three to five years. If there is a change in location or the vehicle used, or the way in which they work, this is also a trigger for refresher training.

2. Vehicle maintenance

As an employer, you have a legal duty to ensure that work equipment is maintained safely. Vehicles should be in good working order.

As part of this vehicle maintenance, vehicles should be checked daily by the employee. Providing an employee with a checklist is a good practice for drivers to safely assess their vehicles. This could include checks at the start of each shift on the tyres, lights and indicators. Employees should know how to report any problems they find.

As part of driver safety, you should ensure regular, planned vehicle maintenance. Each vehicle will have its own manufacturer’s guidance on regular maintenance. Planned maintenance helps reduce the risks of something going wrong with the vehicle during normal use. This includes maintenance of:

• Tyres
• Brakes
• Windscreen washers and wipers
• Warning devices such as horns or lights
• Specific safety systems such as securing points for ropes

3. Office admin

It’s not just the drivers that are involved with driver safety. Office based administrators, are also integral to driver safety. They will often be responsible for carrying out licence checks, ensuring that drivers are legally allowed to operate the vehicles being used. They also may need access to the training records to identify the training needed.

In the UK, in most cases, people must be aged 17 or older to legally drive, having passed a driving test. If the vehicles involved are heavy goods vehicles, or large vehicles, then the drivers should be aged 21 or older and have passed the proper tests associated with these vehicles. 

4. Tech support

This summer, Transport for London (TfL) unveiled plans to tackle driver fatigue on their busses. Technology such as sensors and cameras, monitor eye movements, including blinking rates to identify signs of driver fatigue.

These plans are part of bigger plans by TfL to ensure that by 2030, no-one is killed on or by a London bus. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan said:

"This new world-leading safety standard is an important part of our work towards achieving Vision Zero across the bus network. It will help protect passengers, the bus drivers who keep London moving, as well as other road users, while supporting innovation that can prevent collisions and save lives."

An SME will have less scope to be at the cutting edge of technology than an organisation with the budget of TfL, but it is always worth exploring what is possible.

5. Adapting to road conditions

Part of any driver training should include guidance on how drivers should adapt to road conditions to keep themselves and others safe.

Drivers should maintain an appropriate distance between vehicles to allow time for reactions for potential hazards. During adverse weather this distance should be increased.

In bad weather conditions, drivers should also lower speeds. This is particularly necessary when driving in wet weather to maintain control and allow for longer stopping distances.

Drivers should use appropriate lighting based on the driving conditions such as dipped headlights during rain and fog. 

Next steps

We are on hand to support your business when it comes to driver safety. Whether you need support with delivering training to your employees, keeping appropriate training records or providing appropriate safety checklists we are here to help.

As experts in everything health and safety it is our business to keep your business running smoothly when it comes to health and safety. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you.