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Companies are taking differing measures to demonstrate duty of care. Most typical risk management strategies involve checking driving licences, assessing drivers, providing some form of training and having policies in place that cover things like mobile phone usage, drugs and alcohol, taking breaks etc.
But is this enough? The truth is, it might be for now but it won't be forever. The law is a moveable feast and, to take an example from another walk of life, who would have thought years ago that takeaway coffee cups would state that the container may contain hot liquids? All it took was for a company to be blamed for someone being burnt, and a new precedent was set and the goalposts shifted.
So where is it likely to go with driving at work? In my mind, I suspect we will see duty of care extending to how a company's driving activities impact on others beyond the physical act of driving.
To give an example, there's a private company near where I live that's been awarded the contract to ferry patients to hospitals for their outpatient appointments. These include patients receiving lifesaving treatments such as dialysis.
I'm aware of a number of people who have decided to drive to hospital themselves because the company has fallen behind with its pick-ups and patients cannot miss their appointment. Although fully understandable, this is highly dangerous for some people as their treatments can make them feel unwell and not fit to drive.
But what if a patient then had a fatal accident? Would the failure of the company to provide the contracted transportation become the focus of the investigation?
If yes, the company could be prosecuted even though they were not involved in the accident. If that was to be the case, what about the company employee who is in a meeting, but whose badly parked vehicle causes a mother to push her pram into the road to then be hit by a passing vehicle?
I sincerely hope it doesn't end up like this. Companies have enough red tape to battle with as it is, without having to start considering policies for all the eventualities of a poorly parked car or someone arriving late at a pick-up. Whatever next, someone starving because their supermarket delivery didn't turn up?
The worrying thing is, I suspect the laws that govern driving at work will continue to tighten. But I sincerely hope we're able to run our businesses with safe driving, but not in complete fear of the consequences of the slightest misdemeanour.
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