Driving Licence Checks - Are You At Risk?
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 received Royal Assent in the July and came into force on 6 April 2008.
It introduced a new offence across the UK for prosecuting companies and other organisations where there has been a gross failing, throughout the organisation, in the management of health and safety with fatal consequences. The Act will therefore will see companies and other incorporated bodies, certain unincorporated bodies including partnerships, government departments and similar bodies facing prosecution for the new criminal offence of corporate manslaughter (corporate homicide in Scotland) where their gross negligence has led to the death of an employee or other individual. The offence targets the liability of organisations themselves and does not apply to individuals. However, individuals can still be charged with the common law offence of manslaughter or with health and safety offences.
Have You Considered The High Risk Your Drivers Place On Your Business?
Research completed by the Department of Transport into unlicensed driving found that the time spent by unlicensed drivers on the road is significant. Employee driver checks should an essential part of your risk assessment policy, and are part of your duty of care responsibility, and in the event of an accident or fatality involving an unlicensed driver increase the risk of Corporate Manslaughter charges. You are at serious risk if your drivers are on the road without a valid driving licence or are driving a company vehicle on a licence that does not reflect their individual licence eligibility.
Their Driving Licences – Your Questions
Do you have a driver check policy in place, and do you hold copies of DVLA driving licences for all individuals who drive on your company business? Would you know if there had been any changes to these driving licences since they were last checked? Do you conduct regular monitoring for your employed drivers? Have you carried out a risk assessment for each driver recently, how often do you review your assessments, and have you evaluated the risks of driver competency? Do you perform driving licence checks on all your drivers, including those who just carry out short journeys, perhaps to the Post Office? Have you considered all drivers, casual users, employees’ partners, sons and daughters? Do you know how many penalty points, convictions or endorsements each of your drivers hold, and are their driving licences registered to the correct address? Do their licence code categories allow them to drive your company vehicle – LGVs, Class 1, Class 2, 7.5ton, large buses, vans and passenger cars? And finally, how would you know if any of your drivers have been banned or disqualified, or have had their licences revoked last month, this month or even today? What impact would the ensuing police and HSE investigation, along with potential prosecution have on your business?
LICENCECHECK – Driver Licence Checking Software
At LicenceCheck, we understand the mounting pressures that the whole driving licence verification process places on businesses both large and small. The huge administrative burden that collecting, auditing, recording, and storing each driving licence, and keeping records of any endorsements and convictions is both time-consuming and costly. That is why companies across the UK are turning to LICENCECHECK's low cost, driver licence checking software.