August 2011 Newsletter
Grey Fleet
At the Driving Risks @ Work Seminar in Glenrothes in June there was a lot of discussion relating to "Grey Fleet". The importance of ensuring "own use" vehicles are fully insured for business use and appropriately taxed, MOTd and maintained was generally acknowledged. There are examples of businesses that conduct mandatory random checks on private cars and the difficulty some businesses are experiencing in overseeing the use of employee's own vehicle. For more information on Grey Fleet with examples of best practice visit the Office of Government Commerce site.
Download RoSPA's free "Driving for Work: Own Vehicles" (
PDF) guide
ScORSA Managing Occupational Road Risk and the Law
There are new resources for ScORSA members including a detailed document outlining the legislation relating to Managing Occupational Road Risk.
If you are not a ScORSA member joining is easy and there are no costs involved. All that is required is a commitment to promoting occupational road safety within your organisation. Simply click on the button "How to join ScORSA" on the ScORSA website
Lone Workers
At the recent DR@ Work seminar in Glenrothes there was quite a bit of discussion relating to lone workers. Here is some information which may be helpful:
The HSE comprehensive document ( PDF) provides information on risk assessment of lone workers.
The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives website takes an in-depth approach looking at the necessary control measures, supervision of lone workers and emergencies and the lone worker.
Managing Drivers Risks
Good Practice Report and factsheet from Europe
This report contains case studies in managing risks to road transport drivers. The cases cover freight drivers and bus drivers and feature a variety of initiatives and interventions to protect drivers. They show that by taking account of how the sector operates in practice, and the characteristics of drivers themselves and the way they work, risks can be successfully managed.
This brief factsheet may also be of interest.
ACPOS
The Scottish Police Forces conduct national campaigns throughout the year. The recent campaign date coincided with the 20th anniversary of the introduction of legislation making rear seatbelt use compulsory. Here is a summary of the findings.
- 292 drivers, 44 adult front seat passengers, 15 adult rear seat passengers; two child front seat passengers and two child rear seat passengers detected not wearing their seatbelt.
- 295 offenders being detected for driving at excessive speed, with two people reported for dangerous driving and a further 17 detected for careless driving.
For fuller details including other findings that indicate how foolish (or is it selfish) drivers can be, such as the 39 year old male driving at 72 mph in a 30 mph zone in Grangemouth, log onto: www.acpos.police.uk.
Next ACPOS campaign 26th - 28th August - Main Focus: Uninsured Drivers and vehicles
Safety Camera Programme - Key Stats 2010
Key Scottish Safety Camera Programme Statistics, 2010, published recently by Scotland's Chief Statistician, reveals that the number of people killed or seriously injured at safety camera sites between 2008 and 2010 was around 63 per cent lower than in the three-year period prior to safety camera enforcement. During the pre-enforcement baseline period, an average of 341 people were killed or seriously injured per year across the camera sites, and this fell to 127 per year for 2008-2010. The figures relate to 164 fixed, 205 mobile and 41 red-light cameras located across the country.
Key Scottish Safety Camera Programme Statistics, 2010 can be accessed at www.scotland.gov.uk.
Top Ten Tips for Staying within the Limit
RoSPA tips for drivers who find it difficult to stay within speed limits ( PDF).
ScORSA Driving Risks @ Work Seminars – Ask the Experts
Free Seminars in South Lanarkshire and Aberdeen Areas
The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives in partnership with RoSPA Scotland has sponsored a series of seminars to help provide guidance and support to small and medium sized businesses coping with the risks presented from driving for work.
- Aberdeen Douglas Hotel, 43-45 Market Street, Aberdeen, AB11 5EL– 14th September
- Hamilton –Chatelherault Country Park, Banqueting Hall and Auditorium, Carlisle Road, Ferniegair, Hamilton, ML3 7UA - 15th September
These seminars will provide an opportunity for business to ask questions of the experts on issues relating to driving for work and managing occupational road risk. Application form available by phone 0131 449 9379 or on the RoSPA website.
Young Driver at Work Free Seminars Edinburgh and Glasgow
Young drivers are drivers aged under 25 years of age. There are still places available on these free seminar Edinburgh and Glasgow training sessions.
These training seminars will take place in Edinburgh on 7th September and in Glasgow on 8th September. The seminars are open to anyone involved in working with young drivers and will be of particular interest to businesses with young drivers, road safety professionals, police, fire, community officers, educationalists, human resources and occupational health and safety personnel. For more information and application form contact 0131 449 9379 or log onto www.rospa.com
CPC Training
Businesses with employees who hold a Driver (Certificate of Professional Competence) CPC should be aware of the need to renew this training certificate every 5 years. For drivers who have passed this initial driver CPC qualification renewal will be 5 years from the date of gaining that qualification. There are currently a number of drivers who have "Acquired Rights" which means that they will be required to undertake CPC training within 5 years of receiving these rights.
- Professional Bus or Coach drivers with D, D1, D+E and D1+E on vocational driver's licence before 10th September 2008 will have gained "Acquired rights" for 5 years. This means that the driver will be required to complete 35 hours of periodic training before 9th September 2013.
- Professional HGV Truck drivers with C, C1, C+E and C1+E on vocational driver's licence before 10th September 2009 will have gained "Acquired rights" for 5 years. This means that the driver will be required to complete 35 hours of periodic training before 9th September 2014.
At a recent ScORSA Driving Risks at Work Seminar in Fife, Jane Greer, Road Safety Manager Fife Constabulary, highlighted the benefits of regular Driver Training and urged delegates not to leave it until the last minute before renewing CPC Training. Jane Greer says "Periodic driver training is designed to confirm and expand existing knowledge and skills of each driver to ensure that they continue to be safe, courteous and fuel efficient drivers".
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA's Head of Road Safety would like to encourage businesses to consider regular training sessions throughout the 5 year period. By so doing drivers will be more likely to maintain a consistent and informed standard of driving skills and this will avoid last minute intensive training sessions.
Kevin Clinton suggests "the rules on CPC are an important improvement in ensuring the professionalism and qualifications of professional drivers. As with all education, it is more effective if it is spread over a long period and periodically refreshed, rather than being undertaken in a short, intensive course that is not repeated for another 5 years. So we advise operators and drivers to take CPC training in smaller amounts throughout the 5 year period, rather than wait for the fifth year and then cram it all in at once. On a purely logistical level, having to ensure lots of your drivers complete 35 hours of CPC training in a short space of time is likely to be much more disruptive to your operations than spreading it out over 5 years."