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New child in car safety regs - seat belts, child seats etc.
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Posted By jackw.
Hi, views please on the above re social work staff transporting young people in their own vehicles. We have a number of areas were staff are asked to transport YP in their own cars. In most cases, except for younger children they use the seat belt fitted in their car. However the new regs indicate that anyone under 135cm..about 4ft 4inches for us old money people. must be secured in an appropriate child safety harness, chair etc. Any one got any ideas policy etc on how we can ensure this happens.. we are talking about around 600 staff who could potentially be asked to regularly transport YP. Even if every one of them allowed us to fit appropriate harnesses in their car.. the cost is high. I know taxis can in certain circumstance can carry YP unrestrained.. but again this would be a very expensive option.. HELP...
Cheers
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Posted By Fornhelper
Jack,
I've got exactly the same issue and it looks like pool cars may be one approach but this may not be practical. It really is an issue that we need to address before the legislation kicks in and I plan to be doing some in depth work on it over the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted on anything I feel may be useful.
Hope there is a good response to your thread as it is an area where input from other professionals would be greatly appreciated.
FH
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Posted By Karen
Jack - another can of worms !!!!
I am currently working on the production of guidance on this, unless the journey is of short duration and because of an unexpected necessity it looks as if you will need to ensure that the suitable child restraint is provided and used. There are also exemptions regarding taxi's and buses.
There a some good manufacturers who's car seats are suitable for the majority of vehicles and it looks as if we will be purchasing a number of these seats a 'pool' to use within employees vehicles. We will be providing employees with training on the suitability, fitting and use of child restraints.
If you wish to discuss further please e-mail me directly.
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Posted By jackw.
hi foreignhelper. problem for us is that many of the staff asked to do this are field staff e.g. home support workers, who require to use a car regularly to go between different clients.
We will hopefully put something together and i will copy you. I did note there may be some scope for emergency situations transporting without the proper stuff. But a lot of our stuff is regular planned journeys..family contact, getting them to from school etc.
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Posted By terryt
I think the key point that karen makes is there are exemptions for short unexpected journeys - not short journeys.
If it is common practice to be asked to transport children then I would suggest the journeys are not unexpected, and suitable seats must be used.
I think a pool of seats could work in many circumstances. Booster seats would be suitable for many children and are relatively cheap
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Posted By Paul Durkin
We also use 'pool'child car seats & tend to use those recommended in the Which? magazine(updates twice/year)Fitting is a problem(see Which?)and also is ensuring ANY accidents are reported.
RE:advice about purchasing/using 2nd hand car seats(which pool seats will become) !!!
Your 'pool' seats will need to be inspected regularly(log system)
Regards,Paul
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Posted By Martin Gray
To all concerned we are awaiting the guidance to be issued by the DfT for the new legislation. I know that our County Council Road Safety department will be looking at the implications for the rest of the council departments.
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Posted By MeiP How very strange, I've just been looking into this, this very afternoon. As far as I can make out, you MUST use a booster seat if the child is older than 3, and up to 135cm OR up to age 12. Age 12 & 13, it seems to say that they can use an adult seat belt. Doesn't say anything about being over 12 but under 135cm though. Age 14+ they must use an adult seatbelt, but it theoretically becomes the passenger's responsibility, rather than the driver's... although I'm guessing it would be a tricky one to argue if you're in social work! To make things more difficult, I believe there are also different sizes & weight catergories of booster seat on the market. http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/index.htmhttp://www.thinkroadsafe...rseats/childcarseats.htmHope this helps, let me know if you uncover any more Mei
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Posted By Paul Adams
Connected question, and not my area, so I may be wrong....
If a social worker/carer/or someone in a similar capacity, in the course of their employment, transports a "client" in their own vehicle, is this not use of a private vehicle "for hire or reward?" And as such do these employees normally carry the higher level of insurance cover?
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Posted By Fornhelper
Paul,
This is classed as using the vehicle for business purposes. My insurer does not charge extra for this although I do know some that do.
On the main subject...I have arranged a meeting with a local supplier of child restraint 'seats' with a view to ensuring that we have professional advice available and can offer clear guidance for staff.
I'll keep you posted on how we progress.
FH
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