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XXShadyXX  
#1 Posted : 10 December 2018 12:55:50(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
XXShadyXX

Hi all i am looking for some thought on risk assessment for driving to and from work ie red weather alerts how you manage this, how quick you would make a decion to send emplpyees home and what is in your risk assessment for travel during a red weather alert?

car sharing -  our duty of care if we are using company / employee four wheel drive to transport employees to and from work? what should we as an employer be doing to ensure safety and ensuring we are fulfilling our duty of care.

what to consider if red weather alerts prevents employees getting home - do we have a duty of care to accomodate them? any advise would be great -  our plant is in a country area this year was a nightmare so wanting to be a little more prepared.

If anyone has an example policy and risk assessment this would be great if you could share

Thank you look foward to replies

grim72  
#2 Posted : 10 December 2018 14:17:20(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
grim72

Worth mentioning that contrary to the recent scaremongering/influx of posts I've seen on social media stating  that car insurance becomes invalid if you drive when a weather warning has been issued, all the relevant authorities (RAC, AA, traffic police, insurance companies etc) have confirmed insurance is not affected so long as you are driving safely and not under the influence of drink/drugs. 

I'm sure others will chip in regarding the RAs.

thanks 1 user thanked grim72 for this useful post.
jwk on 24/12/2018(UTC)
A Kurdziel  
#3 Posted : 10 December 2018 16:04:52(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

The problem with any sort of centralised weather risk assessment (or weather warning) is that this can be a very localised thing. I can remember getting a phone call from someone in the Midlands asking me if I should be letting people out in that terrible weather while looking over the sunny skies of Yorkshire. There was recently a school in Tadcaster that closed for several days as gritters could not get down and clear their drive while the rest of the town was alright.  They got all sort of stick but that their local weather situation.  The local people need to be empowered to take this decision locally based on the knowledge of what local conditions are and what the urgency of the travel is. Someone delivering a lifesaving service can be expected to take a greater risk than someone doing a marketing survey for example.  

matelot1965  
#4 Posted : 14 December 2018 23:01:45(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
matelot1965

I cannot understand why you would have a risk assessment for this. You should however have a robust severe weather policy in place. If there is a red weather warning this will be communicated well in advance and you should then implement the policy in advance of the severe weather. Implementing the policy in advance will mean that you do not put your employees at risk and therefore no risk assessment is required as you let your employees stay at home if you are a caring employer.
Joebaxil  
#5 Posted : 23 December 2018 14:56:19(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Joebaxil

My scenario was slightly easier to develop as we have our pool of workforce all within a 10 mile radius of the project, so some of the below might be a little more demanding but the principles below should be same.

I have just developed a driving RA for the location of our project, I decided to use best practice guidance for driving from various sources ROSPA driving campaign for example. I then made this RA site specific with local features i.e. on route to the project there tree lined parts of the route which could become hazardous in strong weather conditions as an example as this area of the country dictates and as RA suggests identify the significant risks (generic best practice to site specific) as it should be carried out, we all know the how much these 2 terms get completely misunderstood it’s so annoying but simple to take on board. 

I developed a local project specific instruction to accompany this RA covering our duty to provide SFARP IITS. The onus I might add was putting the responsibility to the workforce with a clear message of personnel responsibility and a clear management policy of "justification" to get to work i.e. being late to work in this life is better than being early to the next life.

Identify and give roles and responsibilities to the supervisors and managers, put it out for review / comment then issues record and monitor. The message I wanted was that if you cannot get to work or are concerned that the weather is not acceptable for driving then don’t, the management will support you they signed up to from the review process remember.

I researched local county council winter highways policies chased validation, added to the instruction simple tools such as traffic Scotland.gov with fantastic tools for monitoring spreading schedules for salt. Identified primary and secondary routes with priority planning. Again highlighting the justification and personnel responsibility. We certainly have duties but there is a clear difference in WHO and HOW these duties are issued. 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require every employer to carry out an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, or themselves, while they are at work, and to others (road users?) - people who may be affected by their work activities. Employers must consider the risks to employees on the road in the same way as for those in a workplace.

The fact is people will try and drive to work unnecessarily and this places far too much of a burden on employers. But with practical information and risk based approach then the example above should discharge an employers duty surely ? so I see no negative aspect of combing a RA and suitable policy towards driving in adverse weather.

Edited by user 23 December 2018 14:57:56(UTC)  | Reason: Typo

Kate  
#6 Posted : 23 December 2018 15:35:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

I've recently seen a policy that states employees should not attempt to go in to work during a red alert and that offers various options for how to treat the time (work from home, annual leave, unpaid leave, make up the time later).

Essentially, this puts the onus on the employees to make the assessment, while supporting them in making it.  This seems right to me as everyone will have a different journey. 

If you get them to stay at home when severe weather is expected, then the problem of accommodation when they can't get home doesn't arise.

thanks 1 user thanked Kate for this useful post.
Swygart25604 on 27/12/2018(UTC)
RayRapp  
#7 Posted : 23 December 2018 19:36:27(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
RayRapp

One of the issues not yet mentioned is whether you pay staff who don't come in or let go early. Employers are not normally obliged to pay staff who don't come in for work unless they call in sick and they are entitled to sick pay. Clearly if you don't pay staff then some will come to work regardless how bad the prevailing weather or weather warnings.

The policy could also depend on how critical some staff are for the business. In which case you might consider putting them up in local hotels or providing facilities at work.

Edited by user 23 December 2018 19:39:43(UTC)  | Reason: Typo

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