Posted By Stuart Davies There are clear H&S responsibilities for employers with staff who drive as part of their duties. What if any are the H&S responsibilities of employers whose staff work long hours ( for example hospital staff on-call for 24 hours or more) who may be required to drive into work a number of times during that period or who may be driving home after the on-call period?

Posted By David Scott It would be my opinion only that you still have a duty of care towards your employee and that you would have to provide a safe system of work. In your case this is foreseeable and therefore you need to address the risk involved. Questions I would ask would be why the need to drive in and out of work in the first place? Can the call out be carried out in the workplace with accommodation provided between calls (both sleeping and recreation)? The NHS is really no different than being in the services where duty staff need to be 'On Duty' for some 24hrs (or longer) both to do their normal job during the core day and those extraneous duties during the night. Accommodation is provided. Your health and safety policy wrt driving should reflect the foreseeability of this situation and ground rules provided for staff. As an aside, I have often wondered why the NHS does not work like a manufacturing industry (or the armed forces) in that they man for 24 hour operations when required by operating a full shift pattern rather than using on call personnel! I know that nursing staff man the wards at night, but on a much reduced scale, but everywhere else in a hospital seems dead after 5pm!

Posted By Ken Taylor As to the legal position, I suppose we will need to consider the duties of the Working Time Regulations (as now amended) in relation to the DTI booklet on the subject and the guidance available on http://www.dti.gov.uk/access/index.htm. However, I am always ready to be surprised by the next decision by a Court (and the result of the subsequent appeal).

Posted By Ken Taylor Don't regret it. You're probably right. Let's hope that the WT Regs will prove to be the 'thin end of a wedge' that will, one day, lead to being treated by medical practitioners that have no difficulty in staying awake, etc, etc.