RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
October 27, 2003
EMPLOYERS WARNED AS MOBILE PHONE LAW PUBLISHED
Employers are being warned by RoSPA not to fall foul of the new offence banning the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving.
Details of the law, which comes in on December 1, were published today by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
It includes a regulation that no one shall cause or permit another person to drive a motor vehicle on the road when using a hand-held phone.
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said: “This will, therefore, apply to employers who will be guilty of an offence if they require or permit their staff who drive for work, to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving.
“Employers would be unwise to respond to the ban on hand-held phones by supplying their staff with hands-free kits. Even if the use of these while driving does not contravene the specific ban on hand-held phones, employers could fall foul of health and safety laws if an investigation determined the use of the phone contributed to an accident.
“Recent guidance from the Health and Safety Executive makes it clear that employers have a duty under health and safety law to manage the risks faced by their employees on the road. And one of the biggest risks they face is when using mobile phones while at the wheel.
“Research clearly shows that using a hands-free phone while driving is just as dangerous as using a hand-held phone – there is little point in having both hands connected to the steering wheel, if the brain is not connected to the hands.”
RoSPA recommends that employers introduce a policy along the following lines:
You must not make or receive a call on a mobile phone (whether hands held or hands free) as the driver of a vehicle unless it is parked in a safe place. No line manager shall require an employee to receive a call on a mobile phone while driving. Contravention of these requirements will be regarded as a serious disciplinary matter.
RoSPA has led the campaign to outlaw the use of mobiles at the wheel and knows of more than 20 deaths on Britain’s roads where mobile phones have been implicated – hands-free phones were being used in at least two of those tragedies. It is believed thousands of road accidents have been caused by people talking on the phone.
