adapted from the HSE website on Vehicles at Work
Recruitment of Drivers
It is worth reminding clients that drivers are not just the typical commercial lorry, van, forklift truck or delivery drivers, that are employed to drive for their living. The following applies to all workers who are employed by you that need to drive in order to carry out job duties. This can therefore typically include sales people, field based engineers, agricultural labourers who work on different fields everyday, managers, or indeed anyone who fairly regularly drives to other locations to attend meetings, exhibitions or even training courses. You do not, however, have to be concerned about driving activities from a worker’s home to their normal work place as this is not classed as working time. When you recruit someone that will need to drive as part of their regular duties, a driver, or, an operator of vehicles such as a lorry or fork lift truck you must make sure that they are:
are physically and mentally fit to drive or operate machinery;
are competent to do the work; and
understand that they have a legal duty in to be fit to drive.
Assessing fitness
You may want to ask an occupational health practitioner for help in assessing an applicant’s physical and mental fitness to drive if most of their work will involve driving and operating vehicles. At A Glance, published by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, gives more detailed guidance on assessing medical fitness to drive and is a very useful resource guide on the subject of driving at work.
Assessing competence: questions to ask
A competent worker is one who has the skills and knowledge to do their job safely. When you are recruiting new drivers and operators, ask yourself:
What skills and knowledge does the person need?
How will we assess their competence before they start work?
What certificates and qualifications do they need for the vehicle they are operating?
How will we check that these are valid and up-to-date?
Will the person need additional training?
What safety signs and signals do they need to know?
Can they understand and follow instructions for safe working?
Think how you will assess and check these criteria, and do not take shortcuts.
Induction of Drivers
You need to make sure that all of your drivers and operators understand Company Policy and Procedures particularly on:
use of drugs and alcohol; and
the penalties for failing to follow instructions and safe working practices.
Health and safety standards
Think about what you need to tell new employees about the job, for example:
How are the workplace routes laid out?
Who is authorised to drive, and where?
How and where should the worker report faults or hazards?
How should they report accidents and near misses?
What daily, weekly and monthly checks should they make?
What particular risks are there in your workplace?
What can they do to reduce or eliminate these risks?
Do drivers and operators need personal protective equipment, such as high-visibility clothing, head protection, driver restraints, safety boots and equipment to prevent falls?
Do they know where protective, safety and first aid equipment is kept, and when and how to use it?
If English is not their first language, how will you make sure they understand the instructions you give them?
No one will be knowingly allowed to drive if they are unfit through drink or drugs (prescription, over-the-counter or illegal), and if this happens this will be classed as gross misconduct liable to summary dismissal.
All of this can be clearly stated either within your Employment Handbook as well as in your Safety Policy or in an additional Drivers Policy/Handbook. Make sure your managers are enforcing these requirements, with no exceptions
Initial Training
Every driver, particularly younger or less experienced drivers, should be instructed to drive and to carry out other work responsibly and carefully.
By law, employers must give employees adequate training to ensure health and safety:
when they join the company; and
when they are exposed to new or increased risks in the workplace.
Where possible, employers should tailor training to the worker’s individual needs.
Many Employers assume, wrongly, that if a person has a valid driving license this is sufficient. Incorrectly operating a vehicle can and regularly does have fatal consequences and should this happen whilst at work the Employer can be vicariously liable for the actions of the employee, unless it can be demonstrated that every thing possible was done to ensure that the employee drove safely. The most effective way is to offer additional driver training, either run by a competent in-house trainer or an outside external driver assessor/training organisation.
Questions to ask
When you plan training for new drivers and operators, ask yourself:
What experience do they have of the vehicles they will use?
What work will they be doing?
What are the recognised standards and qualifications for driving or operating the vehicle they will use?
How much training do they need?
At what level?
The answers can help you decide how much training each worker needs, and at what level.
Drivers often need many more skills than simply controlling a vehicle when it is moving. Some vehicles that you may use in the workplace have specialised attachments, and there are other skills to learn about, for example, loading, unloading, reversing trailers.
Training in safe working practice should also highlight the risks of unsafe working, such as:
driving too fast;
turning too sharply; and
driving on unsuitable ground or slopes.
Training records
Keep training records for each driver. These records should include:
name;
training history;
training needs;
planned training; and
details of the vehicles that the person is competent to operate
Refer to these details regularly, and especially when you change any vehicles or ways of working.
You could use or adapt an example provided by the HSE of a driver or operator employee training record.
Refresher Training
Even if drivers operate vehicles every day, the HSE recommends regular refresher training to make sure that your drivers:
maintain good driving habits;
learn new skills where appropriate; and
reassess their abilities.
Let’s face it we all develop bad driving habits, more so if we drive regularly’
Certainly workers may need refresher training if:
you change the vehicles they use;
you move sites;
you change the way they work; or
they become disabled
When to train
You should consider a gap between training and refresher training of between three to five years, depending on the risks. Some of our clients provide refresher training more often than this, often they are annually assessed as part of the refresher training.
