Four out of ten UK businesses do not conduct a risk assessment of their employees before letting them drive for business purposes, revealed a survey from Zurich.
Smaller companies are the least likely to assess their staff, said Zurich. Over half (54%) of the small businesses surveyed said they did nothing, compared with a third (32%) of companies employing over 100 people.
Zurich said it believed the survey revealed a significant lack of awareness amongst businesses of the importance of work-related road safety.
Andy Price, senior risk consultant for Motor Fleet for Zurich Risk Services
Said: “We are urging businesses to work with their insurers and brokers to improve driver safety by assessing the risks their drivers' face and acting on the information if they are to reduce the likelihood of road traffic collisions.”
The research also revealed that over half of the businesses surveyed (51%) were unaware of the Health and Safety Executive's ‘Driving at Work' guidance on managing work-related road safety.
Zurich said awareness of the guidelines varied depending on the size and age of the company surveyed. The research revealed that the smaller and younger the company was, the less likely it was to have heard of the guidelines.
Price said: “It's not surprising in many ways that smaller businesses are less aware of work-related road safety as they have less resource to dedicate to risk management issues.
“We are urging businesses to get a copy of the ‘Driving at Work' guidance, which is available from the Health and Safety Executive.”
Zurich said that by adopting safe driving-at-work culture, business could increase staff safety and save money by reducing their number of claims.
