The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated its guidance on work-related road risk to ensure official advice keeps in line with the changing landscape of fleet safety.
The document, produced in partnership with the Department for Transport, aims to clarify where legal responsibility for compliance with regulations lies.
The HSE claims that this confusion is due in part to the gig economy and increasing use of personal vehicles for work purposes (the ‘grey fleet’).
The updated guidance is informed by HSE research including a literature review, surveys, and interviews with those working in the sector.
You can view the guidance here.
HM Inspector for HSE’s Transport and Public Services Unit, Nicola Jaynes, said: “The Health and Safety at Work Act sets out the legal duties of employers and those engaged to work for them, their responsibilities to manager WRRR are nothing new. However, the landscape is changing and we wanted to ensure guidance reflects these changes and also remains relevant for years to come.
“Companies who otherwise have robust health and safety policies sometimes fail to consider their responsibilities adequately when it comes to driving or riding for work. Everyone should come home from work safe and well, whether they’re working behind a desk or behind the wheel.”