Even if your employees are based in the office most of the time, there may come a time when they need to head out on the road. They could need to make a sales call, attend a conference or meet with suppliers. Whatever the reason for the journey, the priority for you as an employer should always be health and safety.
Driving for work can pose a lot of risks to your employees and your business. Here’s how to make sure you keep your employees safe whenever they need to head out on the road for work.
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Consider a carpool system
Workplaces have a couple of ways of allowing employees to use cars. Employers could let workers use their own vehicles and provide reimbursement and allowances, or a carpool system is another way to make it work. The benefit of having a carpool system is that you’ll be in control of the types of cars they use to conduct work business. Cars could be branded or feature signage that shows they represent your company, and you’ll have a clear indication of when your employees are out and about.
Having a carpool system isn’t the same as giving employees company cars, although you may wish to explore this option if individual employees will need to drive on a regular basis.
Create an employee safe driving program
A responsible, people-focused organization should ensure it has a safe driving program for employees. A safe driving program will set out policies and procedures for anyone driving for work purposes, helping to reduce incidents and ensure employees maintain certain standards when representing your business.
Create a safe driving program to help set out expected behavior and actions employees need to take when driving on behalf of work. There should be some training involved to help ensure employees are fully compliant with the program, and to leave you feeling confident you’ve done what you can to maintain employee health and safety.
Keep a log of journeys and incidents
Logbooks are an ideal way of monitoring journeys and incidents. They can help you estimate fuel costs and mileage, but they will also give you a chance to verify details should an accident occur.
If employees drive regularly for business reasons, it’s likely there will be an accident from time to time. Having a procedure in place for managing the accident can help ensure appropriate records are kept there are lessons learned to prevent further accidents in the future. Having a good attorney for auto accident injuries can be incredibly useful for businesses in the event of an accident. Ensure there’s a procedure in place that protects employee wellbeing, but also protects your business from damages too.
Update policies regularly
It’s important to stay on top of your company’s driving policies. Whether in line with changes in the law, or following a reported incident, keeping your policies up to date can help maintain safety, and ensures your employees regularly review guidance.
Provide additional training as required
If your employees are going to be driving regularly, you might want to create an additional training program to help them become more competent, safer drivers. Training can help provide confidence, but it can also improve driving skills in difficult conditions. If an employee is going to drive as part of their role, then some workplace training is a must to ensure they do so safely and in line with your company’s policies.
Maintain strict record-keeping and verification
You need to verify your employees’ driving records to ensure that they are driving safely and legally when they are driving on behalf of your workplace. You should have a procedure in place for maintaining records and verifying licenses. Employees should also declare any auto incidents that have happened outside of work. An employee driver declaration document helps ensure that records are up-to-date for safe and competent driving, and they also help to protect your business.
