The UK’s opt-out of the maximum 48 hour working week is no longer under threat as the European Commission and MEP from member states failed to come to a compromise. The commission said it was “disappointed” by the outcome. Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said, “The likely outcome is that more – not less – member states will start using the opt-out, not something I want to see happen.”

Once only backed by Britain, the opt-out is now used by 15 member states and with the economic down turn more member states are opting for the opt-out clause.  Unions believe that workers need the protection of a fixed maximum number of working hours per week even taking into account that governments have agreed that a absolute ceiling of 65 hours a week. But the UK government and employers’ organizations, notably the CBI, have vigorously defended the opt-out on the basis it’s good for business and allows employees the flexibility to choose how long they wish to work.  employment relations minister Pat McFadden has  said consistently that we would not give up the opt-out and that continues to be the case,”  ”In the current downturn it is more important than ever that people keep the right to put more money in their pockets by working longer hours.”

What are the average working hours for full time employees in Europe?

Country                             Hours

Austria                              42.4

UK                                     42.4

Latvia                                42.2

France                               39.1

Belgium                             39

Netherlands                      38.9

EU                                     37.9

Thirteen out of Labours MEP’s supported limiting the working week to 48 hours even though the Prime Minister himself supports the opt-out agreement secured in 1993. In the time of financial hardship Labour MEP’s know that the British people need the flexibility to earn extra money from being allowed to work overtime.

Fuel Duty

Fuel duty will be increased by 2p per litre on the first of September this year and by 1p per litre in March next year, making it a double blow for the industry as fuel can still be purchased cheaper abroad than it can be purchased in the UK.  The price increase will not only mean hauliers being priced of the road by foreign haulage companies taking advantage of the cheaper fuel abroad but increase the danger to other road users because due to Government figures foreign vehicles are 8 times more likely to be involved a fatal or serious Accident.  This month saw a increase in fuel duty of 1.84p with the proposed increases fuel duty would have increased by 11% in 9 months. Duty on rebated oils will increase in line with main Fuel Duty increases on the same dates.

Below is the government table showing the proposed increases.

Vehicle excise duty (VED)

The Chancellor announced a number of measures to reform vehicle tax.

Tax classes include;

Private / light goods vehicles, motorcycles and tricycles.

Cars registered on or after 1 March 2006 based on CO2 emissions and fuel type.

Cars registered on or after 23 March 2006 based on CO2 emissions  over 225g/km and fuel type

Light goods vehicles registered on or after 1 March 2001

Euro 4 light goods vehicles registered between 1 March 2003 and 31 December 2010

Euro 5 light goods vehicles registered between January 2009 and 31 December 2010.

The cost of vehicle tax for cars, motorcycles, light goods vehicles

Calculate the cost of vehicle tax for your vehicle using the tables below. The tables contain the rates of vehicle tax for the different tax classes, together with tax class (TC) codes to distinguish them.

The rates shown apply to tax discs taken out from 13 March 2008.

Cars registered before 1 March 2001 (based on engine size)

Private/light goods (TC11)

Cars registered on or after 1 March 2001 (based on fuel type and CO2 emissions)

The rates shown only apply to cars that have been type approved in category M1 and registered on the basis of CO2 emissions measured in grams per kilometre (g/km) driven. These details are shown on the Registration Certificate.

Petrol car (TC48) and diesel car (TC49)

Alternative fuel car (TC59)

Light goods vehicles (TC39)

Registered on or after 1 March 2001 (not over 3,500kg revenue weight).

Euro 4 light goods vehicles (TC36)

Registered between 1 March 2003 and 31 December 2006 only (not over 3,500kg revenue weight).

Euro 5 light goods vehicles (TC36)

Registered between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010 only (not over 3,500kg revenue weight).

Motorcycle (with or without a sidecar) (TC17)

Tricycles (not over 450kg unladen) (TC50)

Trade licences

The cost of vehicle tax for buses and larger vehicles

Buses (TC34)

Reduced pollution buses (TC38)

General haulage (TC55)

Reduced pollution general haulage (TC56)

Recovery vehicles (TC47)

Private HGV (exceeding 3,500kg revenue weight) (TC10)

A full report on the budget can be downloaded from

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/bud_bud09_index.htm

The Sentencing Guidelines Council has recommended harsher penalties for drivers convicted of causing death by dangerous or careless driving. Coming just months after legal experts warned work-related driving deaths could offer up the first corporate manslaughter prosecutions, the new guidelines provide further impetus for employers to focus on the safety of staff who drive for work.

Under the new sentencing guidelines – which judges are obliged to follow – drivers who cause a death while using a handheld mobile phone will face up to seven years in prison. Drivers who cause a death because they were momentarily distracted by a mobile phone can also expect a prison sentence. Cases involving drink, drugs or persistent bad driving should result in jail terms of at least seven years, say the guidelines; and the most serious cases – especially where there are aggravating factors – will lead to sentences approaching the maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment. Careless driving will result in a jail term of up to three years.

The Sentencing Guidelines Council’s Causing Death by Dangerous Driving: Definitive Guideline is available to download

www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/causing_death_by_driving_definitive_guideline.pdf

Ensure your drivers and refers to all drivers of any vehicle be it a LGV, PSV, Plant or even a company car,  do not cause death by driving because if under the Health and safety Occurrences act 2009  the Fleet Manager i.e. you could be joining them in PRISON.

The Department for Transport (DfT) estimates that up to one in three road crashes involves someone at work. This means that every week, about 200 road deaths and serious injuries involve people who were driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes. The HSE and DfT are clear in their message that health and safety law applies to on-the-road work activities as it does to all work activities. This means as an employer you have to assess the risks involved in the use of the road for work and use all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that work-related journeys are safe, staff are fit and competent to drive safely, and the vehicles used are fit for purpose and in a safe condition.

Protect yourself by employing the right staff; use the Peoplemaps Driver Profiling right here at www.drivingpsychometrics.com

Concerns have been raised over the impact the 2012 Olympics in London could have on the ability of transport firms to carry out their work. Gordon Telling, FTA London policy manager, claims the additional traffic in the capital over the three weeks the games take place, including the creation of an Olympic Route Network (ORN),  Everyone needs to be able to get to the events on time, but most of all the people who are taking part or those who will help make the London 2012 Games happen. Athletes and officials will travel on a dedicated Olympic Route Network (ORN). The ORN will comprise a network on existing roads around London and the UK that link all competition and key non-competition venues, such as accommodation. The ORN will enable athletes, team officials, media, technical officials and other members of the Games Family to move between these venues quickly and reliably. Venue-specific routes will branch off from the core ORN to create links to each of the other competition and accommodation venues, and key international arrival points has the potential of seriously disrupt access to shops for delivery drivers, as well as affect other services such as street cleaning and refuse collection.

Stage 1: Identification and consultation on the roads to be included in the ORN, and their formal designation of the ORN by the Secretary of State.

This consultation period started on 11 December 2008 and will run until 19 March 2009. Find out how you can respond to this consultation by visiting the ‘Consultations’ section on the Department for Transport website

Stage 2: Engagement on and implementation of traffic management measures on the ORN.

Once the roads have been formally designated by the Secretary of State for Transport, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) can begin to develop the measures needed to manage traffic on the roads during the Games.  The ODA, working closely with the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralymic Games (LOCOG), Transport for London (TfL) and other delivery partners, will design and plan the traffic management measures which might be required during the Games, such as changing some of the traffic light phasing at particular junctions.  The ODA and its partners will engage and consult closely with local residents, businesses and road users to ensure that the measures deliver the best solution possible for the Games, the local area, and the road network as a whole. Once the ORN is formally designated by the Secretary of State, the ODA will begin a detailed engagement with those who might be affected by any Traffic Regulation Orders on the ORN.  This consultation period has not started yet, but details of the consultations will be published on this website.

A European-wide truck parking data-base, cataloguing the details of more than 2,500 parking areas in 40 countries, has been launched as part the European Commission (EC) funded project. The site, which will initially be free of charge, can display private truck parking areas across the Continent by way of a Google map, through which operators can make a reservation for a space. They are then immediately emailed and sent a text with details of the site. Truckinform today has information on some 2‘500 European Truck Parking Areas, both public and private. This data has been collected from over 20 different sources. However, some information is still missing and all needs to be checked. This portal can potentially serve Europe’s 2.5 million long distance truck drivers, and their dispatchers – as well as the transport industry in general, public authorities, and others. Once on the site you can search for different options from fuel to food.
For more information: www.truckinform.eu

Twenty roads across the country have been identified as dangerous for use by HGVs because sat-navs continue to direct vehicles to use them.  According to the Liberal Democrats, sat-nav’s frequently direct HGV’s down narrow roads from Leeds to Lewes, West Sussex, where they can become stuck or hit low bridges.

The Lib Dems are asking the government to take action to ensure sat-navs take into account the width and height of vehicles before identifying a route.

The roads that have been highlighted are below:

However, all is not lost if your drivers need the aid of a satellite navigation system after checking the internet we’ve discovered a site that produce one for LGV’s Busses and Mobile homes, etc.

Truckmate

The first portable satellite navigation system to include dedicated routing designed specifically for trucks and large vehicles such as coaches, buses and mobile homes – plus Snooper’s multi-award winning speed camera location technology. This unique software will create a route based on the attributes of your particluar vehicle. Simply tell the unit the size and weight of your vehicle, plus the type of load if applicable and Snooper’s TRUCKMATE software will calculate a safe, truck friendly route. Routes will be calculated based on roads with adequate width and height, excluding roads with low bridges or weight restrictions plus other hazards.

More information can be found at

www.snooper-evolution.co.uk/snooper_s2000_syrius_proline_with_Truckmate.php

The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) today launched an extensive project to reduce the horrific number of deaths and serious injuries to new drivers on British roads. For the next four months its 14,500 members – Instructors and Advanced Driving Instructors – will be able to psychometrically profile all of their learner driver pupils and input to the development of the profiling system which determines the personality-specific training needs of each learner to make them safer on the road.

Of the 750,000 people who pass the driving test each year, three-quarters are under 25 years old and one in five will have some kind of accident within six months. The number of new drivers involved in accidents has risen over the last 10 years and today during every hour of every day a person under 25 is killed or seriously injured in a car.

“The current driving test assesses people’s conventional driving skills and a very basic knowledge of the rules of the road, but poor attitude and behaviour are the cause of 95% of all car crashes,” explained Eddie Barnaville, Chief Executive of the DIA. “It doesn’t take into account a driver’s attitude towards driving – and the way drivers think is the most vital part of safe driving.

“Today’s announcement provides every Instructor with the opportunity to help in the design of a service that will impact on the shocking statistics that we see year after year and the horrific toll on our young people and other inexperienced drivers.”

The new project comes in advance of the findings of the recent Government public consultation entitled  ‘Learning to Drive,’ which is widely expected to be the biggest reform of the driver training and testing system in the UK since the introduction of the L-test, and which is likely to address ‘attitude’ to driving in some form. The findings of the consultation are expected to be published in June 2009.

The DIA is working with online psychometric profiling application specialists PeopleMaps, who have developed the project. Instructors will receive a report, together with a duplicate report that can be given to the driver so that they too understand how and why their training has been designed to help their specific requirements.

“The system evaluates the driver’s personality in terms of how it could impact on their ability as a driver. For example, one of the main focuses is on the driver’s levels of concentration and patience, both essential qualities of a good driver. It also highlights which individual personality traits could lead to them driving badly too,” said Stephen Sharp, Director of PeopleMaps.

“As the system is entirely web-based it also makes it very quick and simple. For example, to complete the online questionnaire and receive the final report takes under 10 minutes. But most importantly there is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ with the test: the process is designed solely so that Instructors know what type of training is needed, where to focus it and how to deliver it effectively to suit each driver.”

DIA members will have unlimited use of the PeopleMaps service in return for their input to develop the profiling system using an extensive online feedback questionnaire. Each instructor will be charged just £5 per month to cover administration and delivery costs. All other development costs will be covered by PeopleMaps, reflecting its desire and commitment to help reduce the fatalities amongst new drivers on UK roads. The research will continue until July 2009 with results from the feedback incorporated into the service on an ongoing basis.

Driving Instructors can access the service by signing up for a PeopleMaps account at the DIA’s web site www.driving.org.

For further information please contact:

Stephen Sharp, PeopleMaps
t: 0141 416 0117
m: 07786 126 629
e: sharp@peoplemaps.com

Eddie Barnaville, Chief Executive, DIA
T: 020 8665 5151
E: dia@driving.com

The LGV Drivers CPC Directive 2003/59/Ec of The European Parliament

The regulations for LGV drivers is due to come in to force in September this year, are you aware of the regulations? For example, if you as a Fleet Manager allow any driver to drive a vehicle without an up to date Drivers Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) you are in breach of the regulations.

One of the requirements of the Directive is that all professional drivers must complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years, in periods of seven hours or more. PeopleMaps Affiliate Stephen Barker outlines some of the key points you need to know.

What subjects need to be covered in the 35 hours of training?

The knowledge to be taken into account by Member States when establishing the driver’s initial qualification and periodic training must include at least the subjects in this list. Trainee drivers must reach the level of knowledge and practical competence necessary to drive in all safety vehicles of the relevant licence category

1. Advanced training in rational driving based on safety regulations

1.1. Objective: to know the characteristics of the transmission system in order to make the best possible use of it:  curves relating to torque, power, and specific consumption of an engine, area of optimum use of revolution counter, gearbox-ratio cover diagrams.

1.2. Objective: to know the technical characteristics and operation of the safety controls in order to control the vehicle, minimise wear and tear and prevent disfunctioning: specific features of hydraulic vacuum servobrake circuit, limits to the use of brakes and retarder, combined use of brakes and retarder, making better use of speed and gear ratio, making use of vehicle inertia, using ways of slowing down and braking on downhill stretches, action in the event of failure.

1.3. Objective: ability to optimise fuel consumption: optimisation of fuel consumption by applying know-how as regards points 1.1 and 1.2.

2. Application of regulations

2.1. Objective: to know the social environment of road transport and the rules governing it: maximum working periods specific to the transport industry; principles, application and consequences of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85; penalties for failure to use, improper use of and tampering with the tachograph; knowledge of the social environment of road transport: rights and duties of drivers as regards initial qualification and periodic training.

2.2. Objective: to know the regulations governing the carriage of goods: transport operating licences, obligations under standard contracts for the carriage of goods, drafting of documents which form the transport contract, international transport permits, obligations under the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, drafting of the international consignment note, crossing borders, freight forwarders, special documents accompanying goods.

2.3. Objective: to know the regulations governing the carriage of passengers: – carriage of specific groups of passengers, safety equipment on board buses, safety belts, vehicle load.

3. Health, road and environmental safety, service, logistics

3.1. Objective: to make drivers aware of the risks of the road and of accidents at work:

Types of accidents at work in the transport sector, road accident statistics, Involvement of lorries/coaches, human, material and financial consequences.

Note: To help you with this part of the CPC Training PeopleMaps has developed the Accident Trend Analysis System (ATAS) which will help you in recording your accidents and build up a statistical picture of your accidents, and along with PeopleMaps Cost of Accidents Calculator will go a long way in providing this information to your drivers. As they say prevention is better than cure so to start reducing accidents sign up for Driving Profiling at www.drivingpsycometrics.com.

3.2. Objective: ability to prevent criminality and trafficking in illegal immigrants: General information, implications for drivers, preventive measures, check list, legislation on transport operator liability.

3.3. Objective: ability to prevent physical risks: Ergonomic principles; movements and postures which pose a risk, physical fitness, handling exercises, personal protection.

3.4. Objective: awareness of the importance of physical and mental ability: Principles of healthy, balanced eating, effects of alcohol, drugs or any other substance likely to affect behaviour, symptoms, causes, effects of fatigue and stress, fundamental role of the basic work/rest cycle.

3.5. Objective: ability to assess emergency situations: behaviour in an emergency situation: assessment of the situation, avoiding complications of an accident, summoning assistance, assisting casualties and giving first aid, reaction in the event of fire, evacuation of occupants of a lorry/bus passengers, ensuring the safety of all passengers, reaction in the event of aggression; basic principles for the drafting of an accident report.

3.6. Objective: ability to adopt behaviour to help enhance the image of the company: behaviour of the driver and company image: importance for the company of the standard of service provided by the driver, the roles of the driver, people with whom the driver will be dealing, vehicle maintenance, work organisation, commercial and financial effects of a   dispute.

3.7. Objective: to know the economic environment of road haulage and the

Organisation of the market: road transport in relation to other modes of transport (competition, shippers), different road transport activities (transport for hire or reward, own account, auxiliary transport activities), organisation of the main types of transport company and auxiliary transport activities, different transport specialisations (road tanker, controlled temperature, etc.), changes in the industry (diversification of services provided, rail-road, subcontracting, etc).

3.8. Objective: to know the economic environment of the carriage of passengers by road and the organisation of the market: carriage of passengers by road in relation to other modes of passenger transport (rail, private car), different activities involving the carriage of passengers by road, crossing borders (international transport), organisation of the main types of companies for the carriage of passengers by road.

Offence of driving without a CPC

(1) A person who does not comply with regulation 4(1) or 9(1) is guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who causes or permits another person to drive a relevant vehicle on a road in breach of regulation 4(1) or 9(1) is guilty of an offence.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this regulation shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

The Regulations of the act

These Regulations implement Council Directive 2003/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2003 on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers. In brief, the Directive requires such drivers to take an initial practical and theoretical driving test, valid for five years and 35 hours of periodic training every five years.

These Regulations extend to the United Kingdom, except regulation 15 which extends to Great Britain only.

Regulation 2 provides that in respect of Great Britain the competent authority is the Secretary of State and in respect of Northern Ireland it is the Department of the Environment.

Regulation 3 describes the categories of driver in respect of which the Regulations apply. Broadly, these are professional bus and lorry drivers. The main exceptions are those driving emergency vehicles, vehicles used by the police or armed forces, and vehicles used for training or testing purposes.

Regulation 4 prohibits any new driver from driving a bus on or after 10th September 2008 or a lorry on or after 10th September 2009 (“the relevant implementation date”) on a public road unless that driver has passed a theory and practical driving test, referred to as an “initial CPC” test. That test is more extensive than the current driving test and may be taken at the same time as that driving test. Drivers undergoing a vocational training course may be exempted up to 12 months from taking that test by the competent authority. Drivers who hold a bus or lorry driving licence before the relevant implementation date (“drivers with acquired rights”) are also exempt from taking the initial CPC test.

Regulation 5 allows the competent authority or a person approved by it to organize provision of initial CPC tests. Any person who takes the initial CPC test must pay £30 for the theory part of the test and £41 for the practical part of the test. This is additional to any fee that the applicant must pay for a driving test which he takes for a driving licence.

Regulation 6 allows the competent authority to approve persons to provide periodic training courses. Such a person must pay a fee of £1,500 for such approval which is valid for five years. In addition he must pay to the competent authority £250 for approval for each course which he proposes to provide. Such approval is valid for one year. Each course must last at least seven hours.

Regulation 7 requires each person who provides periodic training to notify the competent authority each time a course of periodic training has been completed. The competent authority must keep a record of such courses which have been completed.

Regulation 8 provides for a person who has passed the initial CPC test or completed 35 hours of periodic training to apply to the competent authority for a driver qualification card. The competent authority must issue such person with a driver qualification card upon payment of a fee of £25.

Regulation 9 prohibits anyone from driving a bus or lorry unless that person has passed the initial CPC test within the previous 5 years or has completed 35 hours of periodic training within the previous 5 years. Drivers with acquired rights who do not need to take the initial CPC test must complete 35 hours periodic training by 10th September 2013 in respect of bus drivers and by 10th September 2014 in respect of lorry drivers.

Regulation 10 makes it an offence for a person to drive without a CPC as required by the regulations. This is punishable with a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale.

Regulation 11 requires a driver who is required to have a CPC or who is exempt because he is undergoing an approved national vocational training course to carry evidence of that entitlement while driving and to produce it on demand by a police constable or vehicle examiner. Failure to do so is an offence punishable with a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale.

Regulation 12 enables the competent authority to issue a new driver qualification card or a document authorising driving whilst undergoing an approved national vocational training course if that card or document contains any errors, including if the name ceases to be correct. A fee of £25 is payable if the name ceases to be correct or if the error was the card holder’s fault. Otherwise issue of a new card is free of charge. Failure to surrender a card or document with errors is an offence punishable with a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale.

Regulation 13 makes it an offence for a person to forge or make false statements with respect to any document which evidences CPC entitlement or a training exemption. Such an offence is punishable on summary conviction with a fine up to the statutory maximum or on indictment to up to two years imprisonment or a fine or both.

Regulation 14allows constables and examiners to seize any documents in respect of which an offence concerning evidence of CPC entitlement or a training exemption may have been committed under the regulations.

Regulation 15 amends the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licenses) Regulations so that the new minimum age requirements in the Directive apply to bus and lorry drivers who have passed the initial CPC test. Broadly, 18 is substituted for the age of 21 in respect of bus drivers and lorry drivers provided that, in the case of the former, the driver is carrying passengers on a route which does not exceed 50 kilometres or does not carry passengers at all. For other bus drivers, age 20 is substituted for 21.

What are the exceptions?

The Driver does not need a CPC if the vehicle being driven is;

• Not authorised to exceed 45 kph
• Being used by or under instructions of the armed forces, the police or a fire and rescue authority.
• Undergoing road test for technical development repair or for maintenance purposes.
• Being used in the state of emergency as part of a rescue mission.
• Being used for driving lessons for either driving licence or Driver CPC purposes.
• Not being used to carry passengers or for goods for commercial purposes.
• Carrying materials or equipment for your work and that work is not professional bus, coach or lorry driving.

More information on the drivers CPC can be found at:

http://www.dvtani.gov.uk/uploads/legislation/finalptguide.pdf

Or down load the drivers booklet:

http://www.dvtani.gov.uk/uploads/legislation/CPCBooklet.pdf

The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 came into force on 16th January 2009 and gives courts greater powers of sentencing and increases fines for those who breach health and safety legislation. PeopleMaps Affiliate Stephen Barker outlines the key changes and what Fleet Managers can do to prevent falling foul of the law and even winding up behind bars.

The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 amends Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and raises the maximum penalties available to the courts in respect of certain health and safety offences. In short it;

• raises the maximum fine which may be imposed in the lower courts to £20,000 (from £5,0000) for most health and safety offences;
• makes imprisonment an option for more health and safety offences in both the lower and higher courts;
• makes certain offences, which are currently triable only in the lower courts, triable in either the lower or higher courts.

But perhaps most importantly for you as a Fleet Manager and fleet decision maker is that the new law represents a shift in attitude by the Government towards individuals in a company taking accountability for health & safety, especially where there is a fatality.

Coming in the wake of the Corporate Manslaughter Act and a clampdown by the Health & Safety Executive, this new Act will further turn up the heat on directors and senior managers. Breaches of regulations could in future become criminal matters. We are likely to see tougher punishments, including more jail sentences, imposed on people in positions of authority. They include jail sentences of up to two years for individuals found to be at blame. That’s a pretty scary thought and it’s supposed to be.

A deterrent to individuals

In the press release to announce the new Act the Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Judith Hackitt, said: “It is right that there should be a real deterrent to those businesses and individuals that do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously. Everyone has the right to work in an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly managed, and employers have a duty in law to deliver this”.

Note the reference to ‘individuals’. Under Health and Safety law, any individual in the workplace – including employees, management and directors – can be found guilty of Health and Safety offences which, under the new law, will bring with them imprisonment as an option for punishment. The maximum term of imprisonment is two years, which can also be accompanied by an unlimited fine.

Labour MP Keith Hill, who introduced the Act, has said that imprisonment should only be appropriate in the most serious of cases. This is of little comfort given that sentencing is now a matter purely for Magistrates and Judges, who are without precedent and are yet to receive any guidance from the Sentencing Guidelines Council (which will be crucial).

Hill has said there’ll be a minimal increase in those going to jail as a result of this Act. Don’t be fooled. Given the new focus on the acts and omissions of senior managers in prosecutions brought under the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, it’s likely that the Prosecution will be tempted to send more and more senior managers away at the same time, particularly when public perception plays such an important role in high profile and multiple fatalities. Simply put: if we cannot prosecute individuals for corporate manslaughter, we’ll get them for breaches of Health and Safety.

And if you’re unfamiliar with why sentencing guidelines are important, here are the Sentencing Advisory Panel’s consultation document recommendations that accompany the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and are expected to be published in spring 2009.

• Fines based on average annual turnover – (possibly around the 10% mark that would amount to millions of pounds for major organisations).
• Publicity orders – including the placing of an advertisement in newspapers and trade journals or on television or radio as well as ordering letters be sent to shareholders and customers.
• Remedial orders, which would force convicted companies to implement a series of measures to ensure there was no repetition of the fatality.

Innocent until proven guilty?

Even more worryingly, the new provisions for imprisonment pose a serious Human Rights issue. Individual defendants facing the possibility of imprisonment will be facing what’s called a ‘reverse burden of proof’.

As the law stands, the Prosecution has to prove very little – with respect to the general Health and Safety offences – before the burden of proof switches to the Defendant to show that he or she fulfilled their duty so far as was reasonably practicable.

While the Courts have already held that the reverse burden is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights against companies, the question that arises in the context of this Act is whether the addition of imprisonment – as a possible penalty when a person is convicted of an offence to which the reverse burden applies – means that the reverse burden is not in fact compatible in these circumstances.

Unsurprisingly, the Department of Work and Pensions is of the opinion that the Act is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. This may well be subject to challenges in the Courts in due course.

Individuals in the firing line

The focus of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, and now this legislation, is on the acts and omissions of the individual. This change of emphasis away from solely looking at corporate culpability to blaming the individual within the company is going to literally shock managers and directors who become subject to criminal investigations by the police service and the Health and Safety Executive. The Regulators will be seeking to flex their muscles.

If only for selfish reasons, those in charge of running the organization ought really to be asking the question: ‘How sure am I that the company is being run safely, and what my role in that respect is?’ For once, be that ‘doubting Thomas’ and make sure that, so far as you can, the risk assessments, the safe working practices and the training are all in place and being followed. Do that and the emphasis of the new law will turn back to the liability of the company and not yourself?

An Example of breaches of health and Safety Offences act 2008

With employees whose jobs involve driving company vehicles, there are a number of risks that you as their employer could face. If they were caught using a handheld mobile phone (especially a company one) you could face prosecution for not providing a hands-free kit. In a worse scenario, if they have a crash and they or another driver is hurt or killed, you could be prosecuted if it was proved the vehicle was badly maintained, or the employee was forced to work long hours making them more tired.

On top of the jail sentences, the maximum fine that can be imposed by magistrates has increased to a staggering £20,000 – four times the current limit.

Health and safety legislation could be used to prosecute an employee whose management failings resulted in a car crash that was caused by, for example:

• Illegal/unsafe tyres
• A poorly maintained vehicle
• An employee being forced to work long hours

Employee drug or alcohol misuse can be a contributory cause of accidents at work, and a company’s management could potentially be held responsible if they haven’t taken sufficient action. Businesses have the ability and responsibility to proactively address this situation

Take action now

There are a number of things you should look at immediately to protect yourself;

• First ensure that you have the right policies in place.
• If you don’t want drivers using a handheld mobile, get a car kit installed, and have a policy stating they will be instantly dismissed if they are caught using a handheld mobile.
• Driver licence checking, on-line Psychometric Profiling, risk assessments, driver training, ‘Permits to Drive’ and telematics are all part of the arsenal of safe-driving interventions being used by many businesses to improve the safety of their employees who drive company or their own vehicles on work-related journeys.
• Be 100 per cent sure now that everything your business does is correct and legal. Double check service schedules and MOT test dates for vehicles. Ensure you are following official guidelines in all operations, even simple things such as staff using computers.
• Ensure that both you and employees have adequate health and safety training. Good courses will help you both identify risks and reduce them.
• Implement the PeopleMaps Accident Tracking and Analysis System (ATAS)*. ATAS records accident details and produces reports that will help you to understand when, how and why accidents are occurring so you can take preventative action. This could be as simple as changingstart times on the first day back after a rest period, identifying specific vehicles with unrecognised blind spots, etc. ATAS will help you pinpoint these ‘hot spots’ amid all the variables.
• Introduce an effective anti-drug/alcohol policy and drug/alcohol testing in the workplace.

Nothing to fear
To the many employers who do manage health and safety well, they will have nothing to fear from this change in law.  There are no new duties on employers or businesses, and HSE is not changing its approach to how it enforces health and safety law.  HSE retain the important safeguards that ensure that inspectors use their powers sensibly and proportionately and we will continue to target those who knowingly cut corners, put lives at risk and who gain commercial advantage over competitors by failing to comply with the law. Directors and senior managers can no longer afford to be lax about health and safety. They need to take a systematic approach, ensure risk assessments are carried out and proper procedures are in place to minimise risks and help protect their staff and the public at large.

Contact:

Stephen Barker, Affiliate Partner, PeopleMaps

Email: steve@bashp.eu

These ratings are not included in the Fleet Driver report as they are not applicable in terms of what the report is designed to do.

To be able to gauge levels of ‘risk’, you must first be able to identify what risk you are analysing. For example, a slow overly cautious driver could be an even greater risk on the road than an impetuous one. Statistics show for example that elderly drivers represent one of the greatest dangers on the road.

The ‘PeopleMaps Map’ in the Fleet Driver report is perhaps the most important and powerful element of the report findings. This is a visual representation of the individual’s personality. If you took 5 drivers from a fleet who had the driving attitude you were looking to replicate and had them complete a PeopleMaps report you would be surprised by the similarity in their positions on the ‘Map’.

This creates your ‘benchmark’ or ‘best fit’, and obviously this depends on the type of driving attitude you wish to replicate. Wisdom would suggest that a funeral director’s benchmark would be different from a courier company’s as they are looking for different things and not as ambiguous as ‘high’ ‘medium’ or ‘low’.

This grading simply does not accommodate the diversity of driving roles that there are and the different competencies required for each.

Once you have established the ‘benchmark’ you can compare others’ map locations against this. The further away from this location the candidate is, the less like the attitude you are wishing to replicate they are. Simple yet extremely powerful and with the written contents of the report you are able to understand why they have a different location and can adjust training, etc to suit or compensate.

If used as intended, the report is far more powerful and useful to the very wide and varied range of ‘fleets’ out there.