Whether you have a fleet of company cars, or have employees who are based on the road a lot, your business needs to take responsibility for driver safety. This keeps your team safe as well as protecting your company-owned vehicles from being involved in accidents. Here are the top tips for business driving safety.
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Perform A Written Risk Assessment
All companies who employees to drive on business should complete a written risk assessment. You must assess the risk posed to the safety of the drivers, as well as the risk to other road users and members of the general public. This is responsible and helps you to prepare for any potential issues, such as accidents. If your employees have been involved in an accident, read more here for information from car accident lawyers.
Create A Driver Policy
To ensure road safety, create a driver policy for your business. This policy should clearly set out the standards of behaviour that you expect from your drivers, as well as their individual responsibility for things like vehicle maintenance and obeying traffic laws. This helps to protect you as well as your drivers, as it makes it clear that they are responsible for obeying the rules of the road and maintaining a safe standard of driving.
Communicate The Policy
There’s no point in spending the time to create a driver policy if you don’t tell your drivers about it. It’s a good idea to print physical handbooks so you know every driver has a copy. They will have important information to hand which will help them know what to do, according to company policy, if they do encounter a problem on the road, such as a crash or a break-down.
Check The Licenses Of Your Drivers
Don’t assume that your drivers have the correct licenses to drive the vehicle that you’re asking them to. If they aren’t properly licensed, then your insurance won’t be valid, and you could find yourself in real trouble in the event of a crash. Make sure you check the licenses of anyone who drives as part of their job with your company.
Check Their Insurance
If you have staff who use their own car for business journeys, check that they are properly insured. Private car insurance will usually only cover the driver for personal journies, like commuting. If they’re driving to meetings, exhibitions, or appointments with clients, then they will likely need specific business insurance. Ask them to check their policy and make sure that they are properly covered to avoid problems later on.
Risk Assess Your Drivers
A crash involving a company vehicle can end up being very expensive when you add up car repairs, lost working hours, legal costs, and increased insurance premiums. Identify high-risk drivers with an online driver assessment. Provide more training to those you find are a higher risk to reduce the likelihood of them having a crash in the future. You can also use these tests in an interview setting, so you don’t hire high-risk drivers in the first place.
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