RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

March 1, 2001
BOSSES AND HSE MUST TACKLE COMPANY CAR CARNAGE

Employers and the Health and Safety Executive must make the prevention of work-related road accidents a top priority if targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads are to be achieved, RoSPA said today.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents welcomed today’s publication of an HSE discussion document on the issue, and said it reinforced the Society’s claims that up to 1,000 road deaths each year involve people driving for work.

Company car and van drivers are among those most at risk.

Following pioneering work by RoSPA, the Government set up a task force to look into the problem. The discussion document emphasises that employers’ health and safety duties do not end when their drivers go out onto the public road. It explains the business case for managing occupational road risk, but also highlights the need for better enforcement arrangements.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said: "Company car drivers are twice as likely to have accidents as other motorists. If they cover 25,000 miles a year for their job, they face the same risk of being killed as a construction worker.

"More people are being killed while at work on our roads than in all other work-related accidents. If the Government’s aim of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent in 10 years is to be achieved, then tackling occupational road risk has to be pushed to the top of the health and safety agenda.

"This problem has been neglected for far too long. New guidance is needed. But if employers blatantly put drivers and other road users at risk by having unsafe systems of driving then tough action is required, including prosecution of directors."

Companies need to have the right policies, people and procedures in place to assess risks and monitor what is happening. RoSPA believes every journey for work should be managed so that proper consideration is given to driver training, safe routes, realistic journey times, vehicle selection and alternative transport methods.

RoSPA will play a major part in the debate over the next three months. A full day at its Safety and Health at Work Congress in May will be devoted to the subject. The Society has published guidance on managing occupational road risk and runs courses to help managers and their drivers.