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New research shows over a fifth of UK businesses don’t have a road safety policy

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11 September 2017

A NEW study from TomTom Telematics has revealed that over a fifth of UK businesses do not have a road safety policy in place. This leaves both the employees and the business at risk of health and safety breaches. When you consider driving is one of the highest-risk activities employees can engage in, it becomes clear more needs to be done to ensure they are safe and reliable behind the wheel.

Best practice approach needed to safeguard businesses

If businesses want to safeguard their staff and lower risk exposure, they’re going to need to adopt a best practice approach. Failure to do so could breach the Safety at Work Act and even see them prosecuted under the Corporate Manslaughter Act if the employee is seriously injured or killed on the road.

The TomTom study questioned 400 businesses across the UK and discovered 21% had no policy in place. This is surprising considering 60% of businesses reported employees had been involved in road accidents while working.

What can businesses do to ensure maximum road safety?

There are a number of measures businesses can take to ensure maximum road safety. Firstly, making sure they invest in high-quality, safe vehicles for their employees to drive should be a priority. This includes ensuring disabled staff have access to specialist vehicles from companies such as Allied Fleet Limited.

It is also important to monitor employee driving and provide live feedback where necessary. These days, there is a wide range of safety features available which can monitor drivers and send live reports and alerts to business owners.

The vehicles should also be checked regularly; particularly large vehicles such as lorries and buses. At one time, these could only be checked at specialised government testing sites. However, these days the majority of tests can be carried out at independent Authorised Testing Facilities, reducing the hassle and cost to businesses.

When creating a road safety policy, it is especially important to add a zero-mobile clause. Despite numerous warnings, many drivers today still use their mobile phones whilst driving. This poses a severe risk and should therefore be enclosed in all road safety policies.

Overall, road safety should be a major focus of any business yet as the research reveals, most companies in the UK don’t take it as seriously as they should. By taking a best practice approach, businesses can avoid ending up on the wrong side of the law and ensure their employees and the public’s safety.

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