I would be interested in any views on the subject of "Driving at Work" policies and their implementation. Virtually all the driving for the business area I am involved with is carried out by staff who use their own private vehicles for travelling to meetings. In carrying out research, it is relatively easy to obtain information and advice on setting policy for fleet vehicles, company cars and on drivers using their own vehicle for business use. However more emphasis seems to be placed on fleet / company vehicles that those owned privately.
While it is relatively easy to implement a system of vehicle checks and maintenance checks for fleet vehicles and company cars, I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has implemented similar for "privately owned cars used for business use", how they have done it, and how successful they have been.

amorris,

Many thanks - and you've certainly got the right end of the stick. My experience is similar to yours and I don't see the document issue as a particularly difficult hurdle to overcome. It's the aspect of managers ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the private vehicle being driven by their staff member is roadworthy. What about vehicles that don't require an MOT (only vehicles 4+ years old require such in Northern Ireland) Does an MOT Cert produced once a year meet the requirements of sfairp - a short time after a vehicle is MOT'd it may be unroadworthy. How do you develop a culture in an organisation that brings about ownership of a policy that expects managers to monitor the condition of staff's private vehicles. What about training and competence. The use of private vehicles for business use is usually written into the policy, but as you say seldom implemented.
Anyone experience otherwise.

Hi Maxwell,

They are all good questions that I would love to get stuck into, but it is that critical issue of culture that you mention that stops most companies even doing the most basic checks.

RoSPA do a set of leaflets and have a driver training site that has lots of info which I have based much of my opinions on and I guess I am waiting for a court case to establish what is RP. i would always push for evidence of servicing as well (because most insurance companies say you should have it serviced as part of the T&Cs, but alot of this is just guess work and my opinion!

Completely agree that most of the risk is the driver themselves and I prepared a RA that highlighted particular areas of concern - for extra training, such as high mileage, high risk groups, speeding points etc.

I also sent out occasional emails with DFT advice (e.g. severe weather driving, etc.)

A.

Do you really need to do more. Set the policy and information out stating that all employee's must tell you of any changes to thier conditions i.e. Points on licence, no longer have bussiness class insurance, car failed MOT, do not suffer from any health issue's that may prevent them holding a licence. also state that they must keep the car in a road worthy condition in line with the insurance recommendations this would entail tyres being checked, etc.

Alternatively, have them carried out in work time, saving your spare time for yourself.

Ok, I accept that there are good and bad tyre depots, I personally have my car checked serviced every year although I do not reach the 16000 mile service interval mileage. I also take it along to the tyre depot which supplies all our company vehicle tyres at the intervening 6 month interval to verify that all safety critical components are working correctly.

The MOT certificate does not warrant a vehicles condition other than its condition at the time of testing. Many vehicles need work carrying out before an MOT can be issued.

Given that an increasing number of drivers cannot carry out even basic checks on their vehicle before they drive away, a free safety check once a year plus an MOT equals 2 safety checks per year.

Remember, 16000 miles is a lot of wear on our pot holed roads. If a fleet operator decided to maintain their vehicles only once a year with no intermediate safety checks VOSA would be inundated with defective vehicles at roadside checkpoints.

If the vehicle being used for work purposes is new of course it will not have an MOT for three years.

Organisation I work for requires all staff driving over 5000 miles a year to have driving training, with refreshers every two or three years.

"Given that an increasing number of drivers cannot carry out even basic checks on their vehicle before they drive away, a free safety check once a year plus an MOT equals 2 safety checks per year."

Which quite frankly is not enough - A variety of bodies - IAM, RoSPA ROADA, Hendon all make it quite clear that basic POWER checks should be undertaken at least weekly (or before a long journey)

Brett,

I totally agree that two safety checks per year is insufficient.

The point I was trying to get across is two safety checks are better than one or no safety checks at all. When I was a young man, we learnt to carry out safety checks on motor vehicles from our fathers, who post war, had to be able to carry out basic maintenance to stay on the road.

The point about the company paying for safety checks to be carried out would totally depend on the company policy relating to payment for using ones own vehicle.

Some companies pay mileage allowance at a pitiful 20p per mile, others may pay 40p plus per mile. In one case I would say fuel costs are being covered in the other an element of maintenance is covered.

eg. A vehicle travels 50 miles per gallon of fuel, at 40p per mile which equals a payment of £20.00 for fuel expenditure of £5.60.
If an employee begrudges paying a little of this sum out for a safety check which may save not only his life but also that of anyone else who may be affected by his failures then what an insular society we now have.
I also agree with you that safety checks should be included in instruction and testing of new drivers. I personally have taken 3 driving tests over the years for differing categories of vehicle without such learning.

In my industry, it is expected that a driver check a vehicle before first use and when taking a vehicle over from another driver during the course of their duty, all driving staff are trained to carry out walk round checks in accordance with VOSA guidance with both theoretical and practical elements which is why statistically passenger transport is the safest form of road transport in the UK.

The bottom line is however, we All have a duty of care to ourselves and anyone affected by our actions. Therefore to apply that duty of care I need to ensure the vehicle I drive is fit for purpose and fit for use every time I use it, irrespective of whos going to pay the bill.