I often carry information about workplace health & safety but rarely do I feature anything about that essential part of just about any business – driving. Those that have to drive as part of their job, whether as someone physically working on a contract who drives from job to job, delivery driver, the fitter that may have to unexpectedly find their way to the local plumbers merchant to replace a broken part, a maintenance technician or field salesperson and the like – each of them has an important part to play.

Those of us that drive no doubt do our best to do so without endangering ourselves, other road users or members of the public but as an employer, how much attention do you pay to making sure that your team members that spend time on the road on your behalf do so safely? Do you keep a check on them and make sure they’re aware of the dangers and taking sufficient breaks while on the road, or is it a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’?

Writing as someone who many years ago was reprimanded by my then managing director for having taken the decision not to drive from the South East to somewhere ‘up North’ in torrential rain when the windscreen wipers of my company car had stopped working, I wonder whether it could be the latter…

Remember, you have a duty of care to all your employees, whether they’re under your roof throughout the working day or not.

An item further down the page warns of the need for drivers to be aware of the blind spots, which contribute to thousands of accidents – some fatal - globally each year. Technology is available that provides drivers with a better view of what’s going on around them, but if that’s going to break the budget, the very least you can do is draw attention to safe driving behaviour and assure your employees that sensible driving is more important than, say, fitting more appointments or miles into the day than can safely be managed, or perhaps, an extra few £s worth of commission in the pay packet.

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Yours,

Jan Hobbs