There are a variety of reasons why you might have employees on the road, including business trips, delivering goods, or even operating a home service business. Whatever the reason, knowing the ins and outs is critical to ensuring that your employee and everyone else on the road is safe at all times.
If procedures aren’t followed, having drivers out and about could be a huge liability for your company, and it could potentially destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to build. Check out these things to be mindful of when you have employees on the road to avoid this from happening.
Drunk driving
You can’t stop your employees from drinking in their spare time, but did you know that alcohol can stay in the system for up to a day after consumption, impairing driving reactions? Your driver’s safety should be your top priority, and you should conduct random and frequent breath tests on them to see if they’re over the limit for their safety.
It is your responsibility to ensure that they do not drive anywhere that day if the results show that they are over the limit. If you fail to do so, you may face criminal charges if you cause an accident or fail a police breath test.
Conduct risk assessments
Checking your driver’s vehicle should be a daily routine for them before driving anywhere. However, it is up to you to schedule professional vehicle inspections in order to avoid the risk of your employee injured on duty.
Due to their sheer size and weight, lorries and trucks can be extremely dangerous, so if you use them in your business, you should have them serviced on a regular basis to check for any potential risks. It’s also a good idea to seek legal advice from traffic lawyers to ensure you have all of the necessary information and are aware of your legal obligations.
The overall health of your employee
One of the most important things to remember is that you should always keep an eye on your driver’s health. While it’s fine to drive if you have a common cold, it’s your responsibility to notice when your driver isn’t feeling well enough to drive.
You should also inform your driving employees that they should not and will not be allowed to work if they are too ill, as this endangers their own safety as well as the safety of other road users.
Road congestion
Finally, there will always be risks on the road, no matter how safe your drivers are at operating their vehicles. Congestion and impatient drivers are two of the most common causes of accidents, particularly on motorways. You should get your driver a GPS system so that they can be aware of impending traffic and, if possible, avoid that route entirely.
Congestion can add valuable time to your driver’s journeys, and if you have a lot of deliveries to make, it’s critical that they take the shortest route possible. These concerns should be alleviated by a high-quality GPS.
Photo by Kampus Production
