Friday 19th September 2003

Safety at Work

Employers now required to take greater responsibility for employees who drive

---

[ben789]

pistonheads.com said:

It has been estimated that between 25 and 30% of fatalities occurring on our roads each year are likely to be work-related.

It seems work is almost as dangerous as speeding!!

[wedg1e]

Hmmm... I've wondered for a while how long it might be before they start tightening up things like Drivers' Hours regs for drivers of other than HGV/ PSV. There's nothing to stop a van or taxi driver from spending 12 hours on the move, other than running out of fuel...
On occasion, I've had to drive for 6 or 7 hours, THEN do a day's work, then drive on somewhere else for a bed.
In a way it would be a pain having to stop every couple of hours, but if, since the Selby train crash, being tired is evidently being considered a crime, you can see what companies would have to do.

[Ballistic Banana]

In my job theres been a lot of concern about driving hours recently(last year or two).
I work in the electricity supply Industry mainluy working on the Overhead Power Lines.
The thing is over the last 6 years staff levels have rapidly decreased hence we are covering larger areas and sometimes actually driving for longer than we actually work somedays.
When on call in the evenings you sometimes feel oblidged to go out to work even after your days work coz people are without electricity. Fortunatly i dont know anyone who has had an accident due to tiredness and driving , but know of some pretty close calls.
The company have started saying you the person who knows if you are tired and shouldnt drive, but then you get scourned on if you dont turn in because of this reason....
Bloody confusing.


BB

[airtrixx]

I was warned that specific legislation may be on it's way during a NEBOSH course earlier this year but that the HASAWA 1974 already covers it any way under section 3.
If you are responsible for looking after Health & Safety at work or a director then you really must treat company driving as part of work and therefore it is subject to a risk assesment.
Its a bit of a minefield when you consider the likelihood and outcomes of accidents occuring.
When considering people, materials, equipment & the environment in a risk assesment it is easy to see that there is the potential for injury or multiple deaths involving employees and the general public.
The only way that you can demonstrate that you are controlling the risks is to provide driver re-training, daily vehicle checks for things like tyres, fluids etc by a competant person (i.e. more training for the driver),A rigid maintainence schedule for the vehicle, a comprehensive set of written procedures to deal with every forseeable situations on the road such as puctures, breakdowns and extreeme weather conditions etc. You must also take in to account the number of hours a person really works including their traveling time, a 12 working shift hour shift plus 3 hours traveling each way would probably not be considered reasonable by a judge if it resulted in an accident.
I do not agree with all the above and it is not a comprehensive list by any means but these are just some of the things that we are told to consider if you are unlucky enough to draw the short straw and have to deal with your companys H&S.

[jmorgan]

Have done 11 hours non stop, stopping for diesel etc, all for the customer. Not my idea but that was a good few years ago. Now I would refuse to do it. Wiser to the company. At the time I was absolutly nadgered and had to put in 6 hours work, few more kipping and another goodly few back to the ferry port after it. Daft.

What does annoy me is that with all the saftey training and memo's etc the bosses will still ask you to "go the extra". In such a way that if you don't someone will. All unofficial of coarse.