1 of my clients has a young driver who likes doing tik tok videos. Whilst we understand we can't stop his "freedom of expression" as he puts it we do have issues with the way he's dong it.

He's driving a loaded HGV and filming. His defense is that the phone is in a holder and he's not holding it. But he must be pressing buttons/icons on the screen to start stop the filming.

I've looked at the Gov website and the CPS website but theres nothing definite about filming whilst in a holder.

The content of the video is dubious to say the least, he's in the outside lane of a duel carriageway and claiming to be doing 70mph. He says the voice isn't his but from our perspective, he's claiming to be speeding which has a knock on effect for insurance and O licence issues.

Even if he's not speeding it oly take a man from the ministry to see the video and then look into the company and go through all vehicle inspections with a fine tooth comb, all of the documentation is up to date and we have nothing to hide, it's more the fact of dragging the company name down and the time to deal with any investigations.

Has anyone ever come across anything like this before?

Originally Posted by: Kate

No I haven't, but there is often something in the employment contract or disciplinary procedure about bringing the company into disrepute.  That is probably an easier way of dealing with it than the unsafe driving element (especially if you can't prove this).

That was another line of possible action. We've warned the driver off about an investigtion meeting we've called with him for next week.

Will be interesting to see if he removes any videos. We have copies of all the relvant videos that we want to talk about. 

Slagging managers off, making him drive unsafe lorries, dancing in truck parks in front of his lorry in his underwear are just a few of the issues we want addressed.

What is it with the youth of today that they feel the need to put thier life on the internet?

Originally Posted by: Evans38004

The speed limit for HGVs on dual carriageways and motorways is 70mph and 50 on single carriageways in England / Wales (lower again in Scotland & Northern Ireland) - therfeore the driver of the vehicle is breaking the law. Not sure why you state that "he's not speeding", even when you also claim that the driver is stating that he is !!!?

As you state, even though the device is in a holder, unless this is operated by blue tooth, he may not be operating it "hands-free" and touching the device to start / stop the video function may also be breaking the law (as potentially would retuning the radio station, or entering destination details on a sat-nav etc. when the vehcile is in motion) 

With regards to the speeding, he claims that he wasn't speeding and it's a voice over to say he was. Why you would do that, I have no idea.

Plus we don't know when it was filmed so how easy is it to interogate the digi card for speeding? Not being ofay with digi cards as it's not part of my remit. 

The video could be a week old or a year old, we have no way of telling, just the date it was uploaded.

Originally Posted by: Mark-W

We have copies of all the relvant videos that we want to talk about. Slagging managers off, making him drive unsafe lorries, dancing in truck parks in front of his lorry in his underwear are just a few of the issues we want addressed.

Cut & Dried Gross Miss-conduct.

Social Media may be the domain of the individual however society and employers have standards that employees must adhere to which include not referencing fellow employees and the employer as basic rules (similar to the anonymisation we employ on here).

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

He may be operating the camera through "voice command" whilst driving but every time he looks to camera he is not focusing on the road ahead contrary to road regulations - most distracted driver accidents are "lack of due care & attention".

TBH I would not be waiting for an investigation next week - he should be on immediate paid suspension to protect your clients business and other road users.

Originally Posted by: Mark-W

... he's in the outside lane of a duel carriageway and claiming to be doing 70mph. ...

If it's a three-or-more-lane carriageway, and a big enough lorry, that's another offence (goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes max laden weight are not allowed in the outside lane).

I don't think dancing in your underwear in public is a H&S offence.  I'd be trying to shift it all to HR under a 'bringing the company into disrepute' clause.

I think you need to examine (and document said examination) his claims that the company vehicles are unsafe.  You can't disregard that claim just on the basis that his other actions indicate he's a plonker.

Just to close this off, had investigatory meeting with the driver. Strangely he had an answer for everything we asked. Which in his mind made him the innocent party.

The 2 safety issues he highlighted but didn't raise a defect report for were in his eyes "not worth reporting as things don't get fixed" which is a complete lie. 

He has been dealt with accordingly within the constraints of the company policies. Which have now been tightened up.

Originally Posted by: peter gotch

Hi Mark - to play Devil's Advocate...

"things never get fixed" is a "complete lie" COULD be a matter of from whose perspective.

That policies have been "tightened" might be a recognition that all was not perfect!

P

Whilst I get the devils advocate sentiment, that couldnt be further from the truth. The MD is a no frills, say what you see type of guy. The lorry in question has since gone through another inspection and the lights weren't picked up for beam pattern or brightness, but because of the perceived insufficent output the lights were changed for brand new units. 

As for tightening up, we didnt envisage that an employee would post videos of themselves speeding or implying they were speeding or a 10 min rant against the fleet manager.

So we just had to be more specific with our wording. And mentioned more social media sites by name rather than a blanket statement of "social media sites"