News
DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR DRIVERS?
With the recent landmark case where both Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings and it's Director Peter Eaton were the first to be successfully convicted under the the corporate manslaughter act introduced in April 2008 .
Why was this a landmark case you need to know about?
Alex Wright was 27-years-old when he died on 5 September 2008. He was a geologist for Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings and was investigating soil conditions in a deep trench on a development plot in Stroud when it collapsed and killed him.
The CPS told the court that Mr Wright was left working alone in the 3.5 metre-deep trench to 'finish-up' when the company director left for the day. The two people who owned the development plot decided to stay at the site as they knew Mr Wright was working alone in the trench. About 15 minutes later they heard a muffled noise and then a shout for help.
While one of the plot-owners called the emergency services, the other one ran to the trench where he saw that a surge of soil had fallen in and buried Mr Wright up to his head. He climbed into the trench and removed some of the soil to enable Mr Wright to breathe. At that point, more earth fell so quickly into the pit that it covered Mr Wright completely and, despite the plot owners best efforts, Mr Wright died of traumatic asphyxiation.
The prosecution's case was that Mr Wright was working in a dangerous trench because Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings' systems had failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect him from working in that way. In convicting the company, the jury found that their system of work in digging trial pits was wholly and unnecessarily dangerous. The company ignored well-recognised industry guidance that prohibited entry into excavations more than 1.2 metres deep, requiring junior employees to enter into and work in unsupported trial pits, typically from 2 to 3.5 metres deep. Mr Wright was working in just such a pit when he died.
Why is this relevant to Fleet's?
Peter Eaton, a director of the company has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and with an offence contrary to Section 37, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd has also been charged with failing to discharge a duty contrary to Section 33, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Many Company Directors and Fleet Managers are now wakening up to the reality that this once unthinkable law is now a reality and structured procedures must be put in place to protect their businesses and themselves personally from prosecution.
Nowhere more is this the case than Driver Licence checking with 1.5 Million UK drivers already having driving convictions, and in a recent pole 65% of all drivers approaching a ban said their biggest concern was loosing their job, this statistic reinforces the need for employers to carry out the requisite checks as they can no longer rely on the employees word!
Although the Cotswold case was not related to driving, it is only a matter of time until this duty of care issue translates into a companies Fleet and the ability to maintain vehicles and make sure each person is trained to operate the vehicle and has the correct and up to date driving licence to be covered by the Companies insurance.
For instance, if a Companies fleet insurance policy only covers drivers with a certain number of points on their licence and one of the drivers has an uninsured accident at work because they have more points than that policy allows, then the Directors of the company could be prosecuted personally for not having the correct Duty of Care procedures in place. Risks such as this are reduced dramatically by having correct driver licence checking procedures and processes in place, if the company and Directors can display the correct Duty of Care processes in place they can not be held responsible.
With the buck ultimately stopping with the directors it has now been accepted that this once irritation is now a serious business and should be treated as such with many companies outsourcing all their driving licence checking to ensure they will not fall foul of less than honest drivers!
Plan operate a fully automated driver licence checking system, please enquire for a company specific quotation.
