Survey highlights need for companies to take Duty of Care seriously!
A recent survey of 10,000 at-work drivers by Matrix Global Services highlights that organisations not implementing Duty of Care leave themselves open to risk of prosecution, unlimited fines or even imprisonment,
The survey found that 40% of at-work drivers have never seen their company’s driver handbook.
This survey is a wake-up call to employers to think about how they manage work related road risk. Many employers think that if the vehicle is owned by their employee this lets them off the hook, but this is wishful thinking.
stated Michael Appleby, a health and safety specialist lawyer at Housemans in London.
Duty of Care not only applies to company car drivers but also to “grey fleet” vehicles which are owned by individuals but used for company business. In this survey 44.9% were driving these called ‘grey fleet’ cars, nearly half of the work force
The duty of care issue is not a new one, indeed it has been high on fleet agendas for a number of years now, however, typically we have seen that companies face more of an administration burden in maintaining records and control over this group of drivers.
Chairman of ACFO Julie Jenner.
This administration burden is easy to alleviate with RouteSafe, a duty of care product supplied by aide automotive. This Duty Of Care kit system for a companies vehicle fleet, helps directors and managers take action to support corporate manslaughter laws
The results of our survey show that a huge number of UK businesses and organisations are not adequately dealing with this important aspect of workplace health and safety. This is despite the fact that their failure to do so could ultimately, cost them their businesses and even their personal freedom.
Scott Ingham, managing director of Matrix.
The survey results were compiled using 10,000 driver profiles on Driving Risk Manager over the period December 2008 to May 2009.
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