Companies that fail to make sure that their employees drive safely face prosecution under a new campaign by police to reduce the 1,000 fatal crashes a year involving work vehicles.

Police will investigate whether the company carried out basic checks, such as ensuring that staff have an MoT certificate for their vehicle, are insured for business use and have a valid driving licence.

They will also question managers on whether they made excessive demands of their employees and required them to drive when tired.

From April, companies may also be prosecuted under the new Corporate Manslaughter Act, which makes it easier to bring cases against organisations causing death through negligence.

The Metropolitan Police is one of several forces that have decided to investigate company road-safety policies after research by the Health and Safety Executive which shows that 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured each week in crashes involving someone who was driving for work.

More than half of companies (53 per cent) fail to check that employees using their own cars for work have insured them for business use, according to a survey by the fleet management company Arval. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) ask employees to produce an MoT certificate and an even smaller number (17 per cent) make inquiries about whether private cars used on company business have been maintained regularly.

Superintendent Mark Bird, of the Met’s traffic unit, said: “More and more we carry out follow-up investigations with companies after collisions, to ensure that work-related road safety is embedded within company policies. In the event of a collision or injury, the police take seriously all the reasons that have led to it happening including the condition of the vehicle and why the driver was on the road, including if they were travelling for business reasons.”

He said that employers needed to realise that their responsibility for ensuring safety did not end when employees left company premises.

“Just as employers would make sure that employees are safe in the workplace so they should while they are on the road. Businesses must face up to their duty-of-care responsibilities and realise that they are responsible for employees’ welfare when on the road for business purposes, whether they are driving a company car or not.”

Research by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) has found that companies often fail to consider the dangers posed by employees being tired.

In a report last week, Pacts said that companies that required staff to drive during long working days could be held liable if they crashed. It added: “Moving a management culture away from an alarming emphasis on quickness and towards an understanding of the car journey as work is a fundamental step in improving road safety for workers.”

Rob Gifford, director of Pacts, said: “Historically, the police response to an accident would be to go to the scene and try to find out if there was someone there who should be prosecuted. But now, by digging a bit deeper, they may find there is a manager putting pressure on a member of staff to fulfil too many appointments in one day.”

Department for Transport figures show that about 300 people are killed each year as a result of drivers falling asleep at the wheel. About 40 per cent of crashes related to tiredness involve someone driving for work. Pacts said companies should be obliged to report any road deaths and injuries involving staff travelling on business.There are about 200 fatal injuries to staff in the workplace each year, compared with an estimated 800-1100 on the road.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said that it welcomed the move towards greater enforcement by police.

Growing business

3m the number of company cars

1m the number of private cars regularly used on business

33% the proportion of company cars involved in a collision each year

£2.7bn the Health and Safety Executive’s estimate of the annual cost to employers of “at-work” crashes

150 deaths and serious injuries each week in crashes involving someone driving on business

Source: HSE, Pacts

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