A 405 reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents.
A 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured.
A 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate.
WORK-RELATED ROAD SAFETY TASK GROUP
Preventing at-work road traffic incidents
Summary of The Discussion Document
Each day of the year, on average, 10 people die and over a 100 are badly injured in road traffic accidents (3,500 deaths and 40,000 serious injuries). The direct costs of injury accidents alone is in the region of £3 billion a year. Many victims are at work, either drivers or passengers or those working by or on the road.
The central proposal of the discussion document is that employers should be encouraged in a number of ways to manage at-work road risk more effectively. However, the balance has to be struck between what is expected of employers, on the one hand, and the responsibilities of employee-drivers and those working on or by the road, on the other hand.
The strategy outlined in the Government's policy document Tomorrow's Roads: safer for everyone (Match 2000), sets the following targets to be achieved by 2010:
A 405 reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents.
A 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured.
A 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate.
An important part of this strategy being to attempt to reduce road traffic accidents that are connected to work. In order to find out more about the issues involved, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) agreed with Ministers that an independent Task Group be established.
The central proposition of the Task Group is that employers should manage at-work road risk within the framework they should already have in place for managing all other occupational health and safety risks. This could mean that the approaches set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) would become relevant.
Findings of research broadly indicate that between 25% and 33% of all serious and fatal road incidents involve someone who was at work at the time. This suggests that people are more likely to be killed or injured in an at-work road incident than in an accident in a "fixed" workplace. However, the important issues of causation of, and responsibility for, the incidents remain uncertain.
It has been Government policy for many years that the health and safety enforcing authorities should not investigate at-work road traffic incidents, except where work vehicles or workers are engaged in specific work activities. However, one consequence has been that, other than for large vehicles, there has been little motivation for employers, or the enforcing authorities, to examine whether a failure in health and safety management systems might have contributed to an incident. The Task Group believes that this position is no longer sustainable.
Under the risk assessment approach, the following principles of prevention (Regulation 4 MHSWR) would apply:
If possible, avoid the risk
altogether. Consider whether alternatives to the journey or type of travel
exist.
Tackle risks at source. Work
scheduling to reduce long hours, selection of suitable vehicles, maintenance
of vehicles and specification of safe routes etc.
Selecting drivers who are
entitled to drive the vehicle, ensuring that they and those working on or
by roads are competent - driver assessment etc, providing employees with the
right information, instruction and training to be able to work safely.
Involving employees and their
representatives in identifying and putting in place control measures etc.
Clarifying the roles and
responsibilities of all in the management chain from directors to the individual
employees and setting standards for what behaviour is expected.
Crucially, putting in place
measures to review experience and take further action where necessary. Thus
creating a loop of continuous improvement and a greater likelihood of improving
the health and safety culture within firms.
Ensuring that the systems
apply equally to those who drive for work only occasionally.
While the Task Group suggests that employers should actively manage at-work road risk, they also stresss that the principle that drivers, while behind the wheel of a vehicle, remain responsible for their own and others' safety on the road, must not be undermined. Drivers must comply with the Road Traffic Act and the Highway Code. They should also, under Section 7 of the HSW Act, co-operate with their employer to enable the employer to comply with their health and safety duties and take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who might be affected by their acts and ommissions.
A central principle of effective health and safety systems is that employees should be competent to carry out the work for which they are employed. Based upon risk assessment, employers should consider whether employees require additional training both for general driving and for vehicle/task-specific competence. Finally, refresher or familiarisation driver training might be required.
The Task Group believes that it is essential that employers have written advice with regard to the measures needed to manage at-work road risk. This advice could take one of the following forms:
An Approved Code of Practice.
A document under the Highway
Code Explained series.
Generic Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) guidance.
In the context of at-work road incidents, there is an argument that, as a minimum, employers should report fatalities and major injuries , perhaps through an amendment to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). However, another option might be to adapt the STATS 19 reporting system used by the Police to collect information at the scenes of accidents. At present they do not differentiate at-work traffic accidents from other traffic accidents.
Copies of the full Discussion Document can be downloaded from the Task Group's web-site at http://www.open.gov.uk/hse/road
How to Deal With Road Risk in Practice