How can fleet owners help protect themselves from The Corporate Manslaughter Act?

Three companies have now been convicted of corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 with another 50 currently under investigation.

The news underlines the severity of this new legislation because companies and organisations can now be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care.

For fleet owners, the risk of prosecution is potentially much higher and the bar has been raised in terms of taking necessary precautions to protect a business from investigation.

To do this we believe operators should focus on two key areas, vehicle condition and driver behaviour.

Firstly fleet operators need to check all vehicles are maintained correctly to ensure they are fit for purpose. Implementing routine daily procedures by checking over each vehicle before use and using motoring scheduling activities to identify any safety issues is crucial.

Secondly, and arguably, even more crucially, fleet operators need to take a hard look at the behaviour of the driver behind the wheel. It's not the vehicle that kills, it's the driver.

By instilling a safe driving culture, with mechanisms to analyse and measure driver behaviour, fleet owners are able to identify opportunities to improve driver performance and remove bad habits.

Investing in technological solutions such as Smart Telematics, reduces the risk of serious management failures, offering businesses piece of mind, in terms of meeting duty of care responsibilities.

We'd like to hear from you! Please share what measures you're already taking as a business by leaving a comment below.