Why do I need to train my staff?

Why do I need to train my drivers?

Nine people per day are killed on Britain's roads - that's one every two hours and forty minutes. Approximately 720 are injured - about one person every two minutes. A large percentage of these are people driving in the course of their work and the more miles they cover every year then the more chance they have of appearing in the statistics.

A report to the Health & Safety commission recently stated that:

• There should be a more rigorous application of existing Health and Safety at Work law to on-the-road activities, including occupational driving.
• Based on their risk assessment, employers should include measures to include at-work road safety within their existing health and safety management systems.
• Based on their risk assessment, employers should ensure that their employees are competent to drive or work, on or by roads, safely.

Risk management training can significantly reduce the risks faced by your drivers. Reductions of up to 30% in the incident rate are not unknown.

Why not improve the standing of your fleet even further by booking a course that ends in a recognised Advanced Driving Test? An independently tested fleet adds even more prestige to your company.

More information on the health and safety implications can be found on the Health & Safety Executive's website.

Corporate manslaughter - are you at risk from your drivers?

The 'Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Bill 2006' is due to become law in April 2008. It will create a new offence of Corporate Manslaughter in England and Wales and Corporate Homicide in Scotland.

At present a company can only be prosecuted for manslaughter if there is sufficient evidence against a director or senior manager, under the new Bill an offence can only be committed by a company.

There are approximately 8 million people who drive on work related business and it is this area that will put companies at most risk under the new offence. Three people per day die whilst driving on work related business so companies need to ensure that they are covered for every eventuality. If a company is found guilty of a management failure that leads to the death of an employee or others or for failing to exercise a reasonable duty of care it could incur an unlimited fine.

It isn't all about training your drivers though. Companies should consider issuing a Driver's Handbook and a formal safety policy to all their drivers in order to make them aware of the companies position on driving related issues. Acuitive Training Ltd (formerly Acuitiv Ltd) can advise on this if required. If traditional in-vehicle training is too expensive for your company then why not consider on-line assessments and seminar based training? Please contact us for details.

Do we really need to train our staff?

Unfortunately this is a question that many companies still ask but as an employer, you have an obligation under Health & Safety regulations to ensure that all operators and their supervisors who use work equipment are trained to approved standards.

Many companies also fail to realise that business owners and company directors can now be held liable for the new offence of corporate manslaughter if their management practices cause a person's death. In addition to potentially unlimited fines, a further punishment will include publicity orders to expose a firm's alleged wrongdoings. It is said that there is no such thing as bad publicity but can your company afford to take that chance?
Full text of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007(opens in new window)

It is estimated by the HSE that 10% of all of the incidents that they investigate each year that involve lift trucks have a lack of operator training as their main cause. Unfortunately even the most diligent of companies can never eliminate all risks but good quality training goes a very long way to reducing them.

Why do we need refresher training?

This is another question that we are asked and the answer is quite simple, no matter how good we are at anything over time our skills can become rusty if not used very often or sloppy if used regularly, refresher training serves to re-focus attention onto safe practices as well as bringing us up to date with current legislation. As well as this the need for periodic re-assessment of fork lift operators to ensure safety of operation is clearly established by the HSC Code of Practice (L117 para 47) and the guidance provided by PUWER 98 regulation 9 (L22 para. 188).

The AITT has also said 'It is our view that employers should continuously monitor the performance of their operators to ascertain whether they might need refresher training (typical indicators are regular near misses, accidents or consistently unsafe working practices).

Acuitive Training will help you to meet your legal obligations and if required can provide you with regular updates of staff who, according to our records, are due for refresher training.