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Corporate Manslaughter Act and duty of care

Business man going to work in his company car
Duty of care: make sure you manage at-work driving

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4 April 2016

An employer’s duty of care car checklist

  • Employee holds a valid driving licence
  • The car has a current MOT if more than three years old
  • The vehicle is insured for business use
  • The car is regularly serviced
  • The employee is carrying out basic maintenance checks on oil, water, washer fluid, tyre pressures and tyre tread depths on a regular basis

THE introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has had far reaching implications for the UK’s four million SMEs and small firms – particularly in relation to duty of care.

In total there are some one million company car drivers.

There are a further nine million employees using their own private cars on work-related business.

So it is vital for employers to make sure they are undertaking their duty of care obligations correctly. By ensuring that all vehicles, whether company-owned or employee-owned, are roadworthy.

Whether an employee is driving a company car, a vehicle purchased through a cash-for-car scheme, or using their own car on business, theThe Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974  and Corporate Manslaughter Act makes it the employer’s responsibility to ensure the vehicle is roadworthy.

The legislation also means that your business or organisation can be prosecuted for management failures resulting in a ‘gross breach of relevant duty of care’ that lead to the deaths of employees.

The safety of all vehicles should be monitored. But employers should particularly check private cars used for work-related journeys.

A significant amount of business mileage is undertaken each year in private cars. It is quite likely that the private cars will be significantly older and have been serviced less frequently than the company owned cars.

Employers affected seek professional advice if they are unsure about any of their duties or obligations regarding vehicle usage.

In addition, employers should ensure private vehicles used for company business are insured for business use.

 

Further information on duty of care and at-work driving

The HSE has published a useful pdf that provides the processes you need to consider to fully embrace employer duty of care. Click here to take you to Driving at work – Managing work-related road safety

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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