Reviewed by: Shakera Rahman and Sarah Cokayne, Resources Committee 27th February 2023
Next Review: Spring 2025
Introduction
Driving at work remains one of the most common causes of serious injury and death at work. The legislation and obligations associated with driving are aimed at promoting road safety.
This policy identifies the obligations placed on Head Teachers / |Governing Bodies and employees in order to identify and minimise associated risks.
Legislation
Health and safety legislation requires employers to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all employees, and to safeguard others who may be put at risk from their work activities. This includes work related driving activities including personal vehicles being used to take staff and/or pupils on School trips, sporting fixtures, replenishing stores or other outings.
In the event that the vehicle being used is the employee’s private vehicle, the employee is responsible for maintenance, ensuring the vehicle is roadworthy, has an MOT if required and that his/her private motor insurance covers him/her for “business use”
Health and Safety legislation does not apply to commuting to and from home unless the employee is travelling to a location, which is not their usual place of work.
Aims of this Policy
This policy sets out responsibilities, which aim to:
- Minimise the risk to drivers’ health and safety.
- Minimise the risk to other road users
- Minimise the risk to any passengers
- Investigate reported accidents and incidents so that any necessary additional precautions and control measures can be implemented to avoid recurrence
More detailed guidance is available from Lewisham Council’s Management Procedures which is for employees whose main role is driving.
Employees Responsibilities
If using a vehicle to carry out responsibilities associated with his/her employment an employee must ensure that he/she:
- Adheres to the Highway Code and Health & Safety Legislation
- Confirms with his/her insurance company that the vehicle is insured for business use (note: vehicles used for business use must be insured for that purpose, not just commuting to and from work)
- The car used has a road fund licence, is roadworthy and has a current MOT (if more than 3 years old)
- Has a current full driving licence, appropriate to the vehicle being driven.
- Carries out regular basic maintenance checks such as oil, water, washer fluid, wipers, lights, horn, tyre condition and pressures and properly functioning seat belts
- Advises the headteacher if he/she is charged with any motoring offence or he/she incurs any penalty points on his/her driving licence or if he/she becomes disqualified from driving.
- Reports any accidents / incidents arising during any trips in the vehicle during work time.
- They always wear a seatbelt
- Secures any equipment carried in the vehicle to prevent any movement likely to endanger driver and/or passenger/s
- Ensure adequate time to make journeys safely with appropriate rest breaks (the Highway Code advises a 15 minute break every 2 hours)
- Advises the Headteacher if he/she has a medical condition that effects his/her ability to drive, or he/she believes he/she is unfit to drive for any reason and seeks appropriate medical advice.
- Never uses any interactive communication device when driving or the engine is switched on e.g., mobile phone. – Hands free devices may be used for incoming calls only must also not be used (please note that ‘driving’ includes when the vehicle is stopped e.g. at traffic lights or during other hold-ups).
- Never eat or drink when driving.
- Are never under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
School Business Manager’s Responsibilities
The School Business Manager needs to ensure that they cover all the following points:
- Ensuring that any requirements for driving are set out and checked as part of the recruitment process, including making specific mention of this in reference requests and during the induction process.
- Preventing staff from driving if they are known to be mentally or physically unfit to drive.
- Carry out an annual check and take a photo copy of an employee’s insurance to ensure that insurance covers the required level of business use.
- Check annually whether any penalty points have been awarded that have not previously been reported (see below for action in these circumstances)
- Consider the implications for any driver with penalty points, or who has been convicted of any driving offence.
- Ensure all driving accidents and incidents are reported on the Lewisham Online Accident / Incident Reporting System, undertake any investigations required.
- Carry out a check of driving licence.
Transporting Pupils
Pupil’s should NEVER be taken in a member of staff’s private car, a Taxi vehicle should be booked.
Accidents
In the event of an accident, the driver, or if the driver is incapacitated, the other most senior passenger is to:
- make the accident scene as safe as possible
- do not move injured passengers unless this is necessary to keep them from further harm
- ensure passengers are moved to safety
- call the emergency services and then stay at the scene of the accident
- obtain the details of any independent witnesses to the accident
- contact the School and report the circumstances of the accident
Breakdowns
In the event of a vehicle breakdown, the driver is to:
- attempt (if safe to do so)to move the vehicle off the carriageway
- switch on the hazard warning lights and place the warning triangle about 50m behind the vehicle. Warning triangles are not to be used on motorways.
- evacuate the passengers to a place of safety and any pupils should be kept under close adult supervision
- inform the School of what has happened and pass on a contact telephone number, then keep the telephone switched on.
To ensure that journeys take place without incident, members of staff driving on behalf of the School are to ensure that:
- They plan their journeys
- they carry out simple checks on the vehicle before setting off to ensure that it is roadworthy.
- that they do not drive for too long at a time and that they are not distracted while they are driving