News

Back to all News >>

Other Articles

Accidents Rates Can Plummet With Simple Changes It has always been our business philosophy at E-Training World to keep things simple and to do them well. And this approach not only reflects the simplicity, ease..... read more >>

E-Training World Wins Best Risk Management System for the Second Successive Year E-Training World has won the coveted Best Risk Management System award at the Business Car Techies for the second year running. Announcing the award, Business Car..... read more >>

Fixed Costs Remain High on the Fleet Agenda We may be seeing an improving economy this year, however cost control remains a major priority for many businesses. Which is why many companies are nervous about risk..... read more >>

"Safe From the Top" and "Green from the Top" For any driver training initiative to be successful, every member of staff needs to support it. And that means from the top down. Which is why, 6 months after launching..... read more >>

Fleet alert over work death law

Corporate manslaughter will become the “prosecution of choice”, aimed at employers of company drivers involved in fatal accidents from next April.

According to solicitor David Faithful, the new law is a viable alternative to a health and safety prosecution and will carry a great deal more stigma.

Speaking to Fleet News on the day the bill received Royal Assent, Mr Faithful said: “This will reinforce the obligation on a company to comply with health and safety legislation. We cannot say we were not warned of its arrival.

“This will become the prosecution of choice, with the prospect of the managing director standing in the witness box alongside the driver.”

Mr Faithful advised company bosses to ensure risk assessments are carried out and recorded in writing. Measures must be put in place to manage and minimise risk and an audit trail must show that a company implements health and safety rather than just paying lip service to it.

“Responsibility will have to be demonstrated from the managing director down,” said Mr Faithful. “If a company has merely adopted a quick fix by purchasing solutions such as driving licence checking, driver assessment or training without an initial risk assessment, cultural change and audit trail, I believe they will still be vulnerable.”

The Corporate Manslaughter Act is the latest in a series of initiatives that fleet managers have to contend with, including the addition of a fleet section to the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Road Death Investigation Manual, and guidelines for the management of work-related road safety from the Health and Safety Executive.

Workers’ unions have welcomed the new corporate killing law.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: “The catalogue of avoidable workplace deaths in recent years has highlighted the need for a change of attitude in boardrooms. We need to ensure this law is accompanied by a legal health and safety duty on directors and a requirement on companies to report annually on their workplace safety culture.”

Figures revealed last week showed workplace deaths had reached a five-year high and, according to BBC Radio 4’s Face the Facts programme, more than 300 serious incidents went unexamined.

Source: Fleet News