Posted By John Belcher A member of our staff recently recorded a near miss in our company car park. A visitor was reversing from a dead end between the line of cars because the visitor's spaces where full. I have asked that the car park should be risk assessed as it the company's responsibility to ensure safe egress and access etc. This has been challanged, as the view of our production managers is that this duty only starts at the entrance to the building and any accident in the car park would be dealt with by the motorist insurance and the injured party. Can anyone help me with any evidence to back up my argument or am I taking employer's duties under H & S too far.

Posted By Lumpy If your company own the car park, or have use of it under a lease contract or similar, then without any doubt you have H&S responsibilities. Ask your manager who would be held liable should an employee fall over a hole in the carpark on a dark winters evening (because lights and traffic routes haven't been maintained) ? It would be your Company without question. You should risk assess, traffic routes, parking layout, lighting, surface condition etc etc. If a driver reversed into an employee, then I expect the claim would be made against the drivers insurance. However, if the driver reversed into your employee because he/she counldn't see them (poorly positioned parking space with high wall blocking rear view, no lighting etc), the driver's insurers may make a claim against you, or the HSE may have some questions.

Posted By Ken Taylor I cannot imagine any initial enforcement action under HASAWA regarding the inadequacy of the layout, vehicle routes, etc in the car-park but physical hazards to pedestrians from the surfaces, equipment, plant or structures would be included. However, as the car-park is under the control of the employer, if a pedestrian is injured by a vehicle due to an evident design hazard or defect other than bad driving (or walking) there would be a possibility of HASAWA involvement.

Posted By Kim Sunley What about the workplace regs, they've been used: Parkside Health NHS Trust - January 2001 Workplace Regs., reg17 (2). Failure to segregate vehicles from pedestrians on a hospital roadway. Resulted in a fatal traffic accident when a visiting laundry lorry reversed over a hospital porter. Fined £3,500

Posted By John Belcher Thanks for your replies I've won the argument. I think the potential HSE involvement won the day, doesn't it always.