This is the response I got from the HSE for Prosecution cases for work related driving using personal vehicles. I thought I'd share it here. Makes interesting reading before engaging with some lawyers/consultancies:

Dear CdC,
Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 201602074

Thank you for your request for information about:

"Whether HSE are aware of any legal cases where a company was prosecuted under the HSWA/Corporate Manslaughter/H&S regulations due to vicarious or direct liability of one employee driving in a personal vehicle causing injury."

I have spoken to the Head of the Transport Sector in HSE and he is not aware of a specific case.

HSE publishes our prosecutions on our website, see: HSE - Register of prosecutions & notices. However, a word search in the case summary field for “personal vehicle” does not identify a relevant case.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

There have been a number of responses in the forum that that companies have been prosecuted under the H&S law for employees causing injury/death while using their personal vehicles for work related activities.

for example, see here:
http://forum.iosh.co.uk/...&m=735377#post735377

I was always interested to find out what the actual legal case was, but nobody could answer me. Hence I queried at the source.

Try the same request with the POLICE, not the increasingly office-bound HSE.
Here's a TUC piece about the subject (shock/horror):

"The TUC estimates that, of the 1200 drivers of cars, buses, trucks and lorries every year,
about one in four, 300 people, were at work when they lost their lives. Many more
workers will have been killed as passengers, pedestrians and on motorbikes and
bicycles. And tens of thousands will have been injured.
This makes occupational road use the single
biggest cause of workplace death. In fact,
road traffic accidents while at work comprise
the majority of all workers’ accidental (as
opposed to illness-related) deaths. In 1998,
about 250 workers were killed in workplace
accidents excluding road deaths – fewer than died while at work on the roads"

http://www.unitetheunion...UC%20guide%2911-5010.pdf

" Did you know that:

Four times more people are killed whilst using the road for a work-related purpose than for all other workplace activities combined?
In 2012 there were 1,754 fatalities and 23,039 serious injuries on Britain’s roads?
It is estimated that about one-third of these casualties were using the road for a work-related purpose? This equates to about 12 people every week losing their life while driving for work.
Over 80% of road crashes are the direct result of driver error. If we include those crashes where vehicle defects were partly or wholly responsible then this figure rises to over 90%?
A staggering 35% of businesses don't even check their employees' licenses?
Car and van drivers are among those most at risk?
Most work-related road deaths and injuries do not have to be reported under RIDDOR although employers have a duty to manage Occupational Road Safety effectively"

http://www.drivex.co.uk/managing-driver-risk/

Stop looking for a way-out of blame.
Start doing your job.

The internet is charming as usual. Loving a judgemental post on a Monday!
I believe in making decisions based on factual evidence, hence my opening post.

Ray,

For those who seek the truth (I include myself) patience must be granted.

"The police now record purpose of journey when investigating reported road accidents. In 2012, 169 people were killed, almost 3,000 people were seriously injured and over 23,000 slightly injured in accidents involving a driver or rider who was commuting to or from work"

http://www.orsa.org.uk/h...asked-questions/#content

https://www.gov.uk/gover.../rrcgb-2012-complete.pdf

Page 100 of the above.

Just because not many, if any, employers have been prosecuted, does not absolve them from responsibility.

My opening post was not about commuting to and from work, but using a personal vehicle on work related business.
Commuting to and from work is not work related activity, so those stats are muddying the water.

@JohnMurray: you may believe that a company is trying to wriggle their way out of responsibility, but as a H&S advisor, having a court case as a precedent can also be a great lever to get managers jump to attention!

However, anybody with some statistical background will be able to question those numbers and point out how they do not relate to a specific business case. Hence the need for factual information in a decision making process.