Hi this is my first post so be gentle with me.

This morning I was nearly wiped out by the company pool car as I drove into work. I didn't recognise the driver and have since found out it was the son of a manager, but he is not an employee of the company.

He had used the car to collect an employee (who had been travelling on company business) from the airport the previous evening. 

This may be a simplistic question.

My question is: can anyone, even someone who isn't an employee, drive a pool car on company business?

I'm new to health and safety as a job role and am on an initial 6 month contract at this company. The company is old school and most of the workforce have been here for many years. My worry is that this person may not be covered by insurance to drive the car but this is something that has gone on for years.

​​​​​​​Advice needed. Many thanks

Oliverp1,

I'm in the process of asking the question internally (via email-arse covering lol), but having followed this forum for a while it becomes obvious that the "real world" throws up all kinds of situations and experiences.

I wanted to tap into that experience and not just go into "bull in a china shop" mode, as is my way. 

Our insurance is 'anyone with the companies permission', but yours may be different. We do driving assessments with drivers though. Nothing in depth, just a journey out with them before we confirm employment, to hopefully prevent what happened in your case.

For any operated vehicle the company is liable for it on the road and having provided the key they have given consent to the person driving.

If it is an old school company they probably haven't evolved an authorisation system - licence checks etc. or controls on grey fleet (private cars on company business).

My wife is not an employee where I work but she is covered by the company insurance for the vehicle I drive having been added to the employers authorised drivers list.

For smaller firms some insurers issue mini-fleet policies which may cover immediate family members.

Check your fleet insurance.  Generally only employees can drive, they have to be over 21 and to have held a driving licence for a specified period, the period depends on the view of the insurer with regard to the type of vehicle and the nature of the driving work.  Driving licences should be checked annually for points etc.

Regardless of who the driver was, it is surely a near miss incident and I'd be more inclined to look into the why's and wherefores for the near miss and to try and find ways to prevent it happening again in the future - mirrors/speed bumps etc might all be worth considering - depending on the layout of the site?

Your company should have in place a policy and procedure for pool car use. This will include checks on driving licenses, points, fit to drive etc.

You should also have a driver's risk assessment for pool car use which all employees have to take/complete. Those identified as "high" risk from the assessment would either be sent for additional driver training or as per company policy not allowed to drive a pool car until deemed suitable to do so, for example their points may have lapsed etc.

Only company employees should be allowed to drive pool cars and given driving at/for work is one of the biggest risks for the majority of companies from a safety/insurance perspective this should be addressed sooner rather than later.

Sorry I should have added some context to my previous post.

I did ask the Finance Manager directly if we had proof that authority had been given to the driver in question, and if we had a copy of his driving license.

Am I bad? lol

watcher,

I suspect you are right. If it hadn't been the fact that it was a near miss I would never have thought of asking the question. 

I will bite my tongue over the implication that this is a personal matter therefore questioning my professionalism. 

Watcher,

You are much more diplomatic than I am