Around a fifth of companies have no road safety policies, research finds

Twenty-one per cent of UK companies whose employees drive for work purposes have no road safety policy in place, according to a study by TomTom Telematics.

What’s more, 60 per cent of respondents said staff members had been involved in road traffic accidents while on business duty, with 78 per cent claiming this resulted in lost productivity due to injury or time off work.

The study asked senior managers at 400 UK businesses.

The research also found only 64 per cent of organisations have processes in place to profile the risk posed by individual drivers, based on factors such as driving behaviour or previous convictions.

Less than three-fifths (57 per cent) of companies provide driving training and of those that do, 38 per cent provide it once every six months or less. Just over half of all businesses (53 per cent) provide drivers with technological tools or driver aids to help them drive more safely.

“Driving is one of the most high-risk activities the majority of workers will conduct as part of their job, but is too often seen as a poor relation when it comes to workplace health and safety,” said Beverley Wise, Director UK & Ireland at TomTom Telematics.

“A best-practice approach is necessary if companies are to effectively safeguard staff and reduce their risk exposure. If the appropriate action is not taken, they could even leave themselves open to prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act or Corporate Manslaughter legislation should employees be killed or seriously injured.”