An area of Fleet Management that is often overlooked or misunderstood is the issue of private vehicles being used by employees for company business.

Approximately 3 million fleet cars are managed under fleet management schemes throughout the UK compared to approximately 5 million private vehicles used for company business that are frequently ignored by such Fleet Management Schemes.

83% of organisations have no procedures in place that check that non-company vehicles used on business meet required standards of safety and maintenance

75% of organisations fail to check that non-company vehicles met MOT legislation

35% of organisations fail to undertake any form of licence check for non-company drivers

54% of organisations fail to check if non-company vehicles used for company business are correctly insured

74% of organisations fail to carry out any form of risk assessment or driver training for non-company drivers

56% have no policies for reporting crashes in which an employee is involved driving a non-company car.

The current Duty of Care Legislation applies to all vehicles used on behalf of a company or organisation regardless of ownership including the Cash for Car Schemes.

Many organisations believe that they can simply pass off their responsibility by offering such cash for car schemes. This is wrong and organisations must recognise their responsibility.

Organisations must act quickly to implement policies and procedures to ensure all employees who drive on company business regardless of vehicle ownership or origin are managed in the same manner as any other health and safety at work issue.

EXAMPLE:

Like many organisations Education Authorities rely on the goodwill of staff and employees when attending of site meetings either in or out of school hours.

Some Education Authorities believe that simply stating in policies displayed on their Intranet that drivers are responsible to ensure that their vehicle has business cover is adequate with regard to duty of care.

Organisations should understand they have the same obligations for all employees driving on company business.

Do not fall in to the trap and believe that you can not be expected to manage those of your staff who drive their private cars on business purposes.

The legislation refers to employees driving any vehicle on company business - it does not refer to company cars.

Source Fleet World