Tiredness Can Kill - Take a Break

For many people, driving is the most hazardous part of their work activity.  According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents  (RoSPA), driving more than 25,000 miles a year for work carries as much risk of dying as mining or quarrying.  Their research shows that between 800 and 1,000 deaths a year on Britain’s roads involve people driving as part of their work.  More employees are killed while at work on the road than in all other workplace accidents put together.

Despite these stark facts, some employers tend to focus on health and safety in the workplace and neglect road safety.  However, health and safety law applies equally to on-the-road activities.

One of the main causes of work related road accidents is driver fatigue.  Tiredness reduces crucial driving skills such as reaction time, alertness, concentration and decision making.  Further, fatigue related accidents tend to be more severe because the driver is less likely to take evasive action such as braking or swerving before impact. 

According to RoSPA, those most at risk of falling asleep while driving are young male drivers, truck drivers, company car drivers and shift workers.  Further, the peak times for driver tiredness related accidents are the early hours of the morning and the middle of the afternoon as well as long journeys on monotonous roads such as motorways.

As an Employer do you have a Safe Driving Policy?

As an employer, you have a legal duty to take all reasonable and practical steps to ensure the safety of your employees who drive as part of their job as well as those on the roads around them who may be affected by their driving.  If you fail in that duty, you could be prosecuted.

As part of your Safe Driving Policy, you should ensure that all staff, including senior managers and line managers, understand that your organisation expects everyone to drive safely for their own and others’ benefit.  Journey plans should be made and these should include enough time for rest breaks and unexpected delays.  Ensure that workers are not expected to drive too far in a day or spend too long on the road.  Set in-house limits for unbroken driving hours - suggest that drivers do not drive for more than 2 hours without at least a 15 minute break.

Contact your Cherrypicked Insurance broker to find out more about how important it is for your business to have a Safe Driving Policy.

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