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Posted By Ian Clarke
As part of our "Green" scheme, we are looking to introduce a bike loan scheme whereby we supply a number of bikes which staff can borrow/loan out during the working week - the use of these will be for personal use only.
As we are providing these we need to ensure that they are suitable, maintained (including records) and have been provided with the relevant fixed equipment - e.g. lights. The two questions I would like to run by you are:-
1/ Are we responsible for providing helmets? I don't believe that it is illegal not to wear helmets (I could easily be wrong) but as we have a duty of care, it may be prudent.
2/ Should we get users to sign a disclaimer (e.g. use at own risk, competent in riding, etc) or do you feel that that is just over the top?
There was a tread in September 2004 (related to bikes used for work, so slightly different) but best practice may have changed since then.
Cheers
Ian
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Arran Linton - Smith
Ian,
I did an MSC environmental dissertation on this subject and clearly I found the best source of information is the CTC.
There are many local authorities that now have an employee cycle loan scheme and your own local authority cycling officer may also be able to help.
Helmets are a personal item and need to be correctly adjusted and fitted. You are not responsible for supplying these
A planned maintenance program can be arranged through a local cycle shop. Lights are cheap so it is worth having plenty of spares.
If these bikes are for work, then they will need to have racks and panniers fitted. It is also worth having these bikes fitted with Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyres for their puncture resistance.
The danger with these schemes is that they do become popular with employees.
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Phillipe
Hi
I am not sure on the legalities of the subject but by undertaking a risk assessment on the provision and supply of these "company bikes", the risk of head injury if you were to fall off I would say is quite apparent, therefor I would suggest you supply them PPE.
Are you going to supply them with body visibility strips or high viz jackets, etc?
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Ian Clarke
Cheers both for the information and all very useful.
In a way I agree with both of you on the helmet use - in that we have a duty of care and that there is a foreseeable risk of falling (especially in Oxford!) so we should be looking to provide this. However as mentioned these are personal items (size, etc) – I think I read something or saw something some time ago about how wearing a helmet too big, doesn’t provide you much protection. I’ll look to see if we can provide a selection of sizes, as we are reasonable employer, however if not we may have to go down to the line of – provide your own!
As the hi-viz stuff is relatively inexpensive, plus may get it free as part of the bike deal we’ll throw these in for good measure.
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Arran Linton - Smith
Ian,
It is worth getting some good advice on cycle helmets as the majority of these only provide limited protection i.e. only up to 10mph. The other problem with helmets is that these adsorb a lot of perspiration, so these cannot be easily shared.
Ordinary high-vi vests are an excellent idea as most people are happy to wear these.
Undertaking a risk assessment for cycling is not as straightforward as many in the past on this forum have thought and it is worth seeking specialist advice from the CTC.
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