Companies are being urged to step up their commitment to safer business driving on UK roads, by recommending organisations they employ or hire carry the ISO 39001 accreditation, which shows their drivers have met some of the highest safety standards.
The call comes from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), which recently conducted a survey revealing that 72% of people who drove for business reasons had been offered no training by their employer at all – even though 44% of them said they would welcome the opportunity.
The figures relating to driving for work accidents are alarming:
- Between 2008 and 2013, 3,493 people were apparently killed in accidents involving a driver/rider driving for work, including 515 in 2013.
- According to Driving for Better Business, up to one in three road crashes involves a vehicle being driven for work.
- Every week, around 200 road deaths and serious injuries involve someone at work.
- In total between 2008 and 2013 there were a total of 322,239 casualties involving a driver or rider driving as part of work (including passengers and other casualties) including 47,602 in 2013. This includes drivers, passengers and others who were killed, seriously injured or injured.
While driver training courses are widely available, the IAM is disappointed that very few employers choose to enrol their company drivers in them. The IAM reminds them they are legally obliged to protect their employees, and suggests contracts involving road use should be looking to include ISO 39001.
“This is a problem that people conveniently sweep under the carpet,” commented Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research. “It simply isn’t enough to give an employee a vehicle and send him on his way as a representative of your organisation – there is too much at stake.”
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