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Driving for work: what is it?

By Joe Kerin
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Driving for work is one of the most dangerous activities that members of staff will do for an organisation. From weather conditions, other road users as well as fatigue and personal safety issues, it is an area that you will need to ensure you mitigate against accordingly.

This article will provide you useful insights as to what is considered driving for work and more importantly, how you can control the risks associated with driving for work.

Note, this article covers the use of cars, vans and motorcycles and does not cover any specific risks and controls associated with other vehicles such as HGVs, buses etc.

What is considered driving for work?

Most organisations are aware of the term ‘driving for work’ but are unsure about the scope of this term.

So, let’s break this down, what is driving for work. Put simply, this is where members of staff drive for work purposes. However, this term does not cover those who commute to work (unless they are travelling from their home to a work location that is not their normal place of work, in which case, they are now driving for work).

For example, the following jobs will have a large driving for work element:

  1. Couriers
  2. Remote engineers
  3. Sales reps
  4. Remote cleaners
  5. Consultants

However, there may be members of staff who have a smaller driving for work element to their role. For example, members of staff who have to infrequently drive to other sites or visit suppliers.

Regardless of the amount of driving undertaken, those who undertake even a single journey for work, outside of commuting, fall within the scope of driving for work.

Driving for work: what are the risks?

There are various hazards that can cause harm to the driver/rider and its passengers, as well as other road users and pedestrians and include:

  • Competency of the driver
  • Impairment
  • Vehicle condition
  • Time pressures
  • The weather
  • Fatigue
  • Distractions
  • Other road users
  • The road (roadworks, traffic and congestion).

How do we control the risks?

Now we know the risks are associated with driving for work, let’s turn our attention to understanding how we control these risks. Essentially, as part of your organisation’s health and safety arrangements, you must ensure that a risk assessment is conducted. This risk assessment process will ensure that the risks associated with driving for work are identified, those who will be affected identified, and controls implemented in order to reduce this risk to as low as is reasonably practicable.

Not sure how to complete the risk assessment process, please see our article on risk assessments which will provide you with all the information you need, to complete the risk assessment process.

Whilst the controls implemented will vary business to business, common control measures include:

  • Checking drivers’ licences: you must make sure that anyone who drives for work is competent to do so. Checking the drivers’ licence of staff upon them beginning to drive for work, as well as re-checking on a periodical basis (i.e., annually) is a great way to ensure that staff are competent to carry driving for work activities.
  • Vehicle checks: much like any item of work equipment, you must ensure (via staff who drive for work) that their vehicles are in effective working order. How this is carried out will vary depending on how your business operates. For example, if you ask staff to use their personal vehicle to drive for work, then providing them with guidance on what to check and when to check it will suffice. However, if your organisation operates a fleet of vehicles, you may want to staff to complete pre-use checks and submit these back to the office.
  • Planning and management of journeys: the effective planning and then management of driving activities is crucial to ensure that staff are able to understand the length of driving required, mark out potential stops throughout the journey and assess any pitfalls (i.e., road works etc) which can elongate journeys and can increase the risk with driving for work.
  • Drugs and Alcohol: having strict policies and procedures in respect of zero tolerance towards drugs and alcohol.
  • Drugs (prescription): some prescription medication may impact on a person’s ability to safely operate a vehicle. Anyone who is on prescription medication which may have the ability to impact their impairment must not drive until the course of medication has concluded.
  • Phone usage: phones are one of the biggest distractions when driving. Attempt to eliminate phone calls when staff are driving (i.e., dialling in for meetings, ad-hoc calls etc). Should there be the need for staff to take calls whilst driving, ensure that they have hands-free connectivity.

This is not an exhaustive list, so ensure that you include particular controls based on your organisation’s circumstances. Remember, consultation with your workforce is key during the risk assessment process, to ensure that all the applicable risks and controls have been identified and implemented.

What is a driving for work policy?

Policies of any nature are beneficial to organisations, to ensure that the risks associated with that topic are understood and addressed. Driving for work is no exception. A good driving for work policy will set out various roles and responsibilities within the organisation in respect of driving for work, as well as set out a process which demonstrates how the organisation will ensure that the risks associated with driving for work are identified and mitigated.

Summary

As an organisation, if members of your workforce have to drive for work purposes (excluding commuting) you will need to ensure that you have robust processes are introduced to ensure that any risks associated with this activity are reduced, to as low as is reasonably practicable.

FAQs

Q: What are the driving for work regulations?

A: Put simply, there isn’t any driving for work regulations. You do however have a legal requirement, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 to identify what could cause injury or illness in your business, decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously, and finally take action to eliminate the hazard (or if this is not possible, control the risk).

Q: is driving for work considered lone working?

A: Well, this depends on whether the person driving is on their own. If they are, then they are also lone working, so you will need to assess the risks to lone working and how to control this risk. For more information on the risks associated with lone working, please see our article on Lone Working: Understanding the Risks.

How can USP help?

If you would like to speak with one of our consultants, please emails us at info@universal-safety.co.uk or call us on 01903 942996.