Q). Why do I need to have my drivers trained as they already have a driving licence?
A). If people are driving as part of their work, they come under Health & Safety law in just the same way as any other procedure or operation in a company
and as such, there needs to be a risk assessment procedure within the HSE management documents. However, this does not mean you have to train all of your company drivers,
it means that you need to ensure, as far as you can, that they are competent to drive your vehicles (or even their own if they use them for work).
Q). I understand the need to check drivers of company vehicles but do I need to have them all go on a professional training course?
No. You need to have in place risk assessment procedures for your drivers. This may identify an age group or those in certain areas, high mileage drivers etc.. Once you have the statistics it is up to your HSE Manager
to identify those who need the training or driver assessment.
Q). Is it like a driving test?
A). No.
Q). What happens if someone fails the course?
A). There is no pass or fail. We would recommend that drivers perceived as being in the high risk
category receive extra training as soon as possible and probably more frequent re-assessments.
Q). I don't have the time or facilities to check which drivers need extra training. Can you help?
A). Yes. There are several ways in which we can help. Many companies cope with this situation by having all of their drivers assessed and trained. We can also look at your statistics
and see where the most problems occur. This would then be your first target group.
Q). How will my company benefit from driver training?
A). There are many ways, here is a brief list;-
You may reduce your insurance costs and fuel costs.
With better vehicle sympathy vehicles will need less maintenance and be on the road more.
With less stress and fewer incidents, drivers will need to take less time off work.
These are only a few of the knock on effects of improving the driving of your company vehicles.
Q). How can I ensure that my drivers continue to drive as you say they should
A).We have no control over how people drive after the course but by showing them a better way of driving which does not cost them time and can save money and lives
we hope that they will continue to drive in a safer, smoother way and give a lot more thought to their driving.
Q). Will an online driver assessment help me to find the high risk drivers?
See the comments on our assessments page. It is hard to see how answering questions can give a really accurate appraisal of someone's driving ability but it could highlight deficiencies in their
knowledge of the Highway Code and good driving procedures.
Q). I have another question not addressed here.
A. Please take a few moments to fill in the form on the right. We will contact you with the answer to your question and possibly add it to this site.