Three recent cases of legal offences in the UK involving the health and safety of drivers at work tragically highlighted the severe risk not only to staff but to other road users as well. Over recent weeks, in December and in January, these cases showed just how much more work is needed to properly sensitise operators to the importance of safety and legal compliance.
The first case of negligence was made public in December: the director of a haulage firm, with operations in Shrewsbury and Coalville, was disqualified from the industry for two years after a regulator found that he encouraged drivers to commit offences. The company owner of Steve’s Transport Ltd was personally involved in the breaches committed by his drivers by directly encouraging them to break the rules; he even removed a tachograph card in order to complete a delivery on time. The company’s drivers revealed their manager forced them to work when they should have been taking rest breaks or to continue driving without making a legal record of their work.
In the same month of December, another company manager and mechanic were found guilty of corporate manslaughter after a truck crash in which four people were killed. The case dates back to February 2015, when the 32 tonne tipper truck went out of control due to faulty brakes. After investigations were carried out, it was disclosed that the company had flouted regulations which are in place to ensure the safety of the public. Vehicles were signed off as being roadworthy, even though there were longstanding faults. The condition of the brakes on the lorry at the time of the crash was totally inadequate, with an overall efficiency of 28%. The company had completely disregarded safety and maintenance with the most recent checks on the vehicle being carried out more than one month before.
At the beginning of January, news was made public that a driver had been given a prison sentence and two more have been fined for falsifying driver hours records and in some occurrences failing to keep a proper record of them at a Tuffnells parcel depot in Devon.
These three recent cases of a breach in health and safety for drivers at work unfortunately send out the message that rules related to driver hours, recordkeeping and maintenance and vehicle check performance still need to be stressed within companies. It is a matter of urgency to create a company culture that promotes safety for the staff and the public on the roads as well as the best practices to reach compliance, in order not only to avoid incidents and decrease risks, but also for the good execution of work and tasks, which has an impact on safety, costs, insurance and on the operativity of a fleet.
Corporate manslaughter is a serious offence in the UK and it is likely to be treated similarly in Ireland with the 2016 introduction of the corporate manslaughter bill. Concepts such as duty of care and corporate social responsibility must be at the core of a fleet and part of its policies and culture.