BOSSES URGED TO CUT ROAD JOURNEYS IN BAD WEATHER
23 November 2005 - ROSPA

With treacherous weather conditions expected around the UK over the next few days and a severe winter forecast, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is urging bosses to ensure employees are not making unnecessary road journeys.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA Occupational Safety Adviser, said driving for work was now recognised as the most dangerous thing that most people did as part of their job. About 20 people were killed and 250 seriously injured every week in crashes involving someone driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes.

He said: ''Employers should ensure they have systems in place to carry out risk assessments to judge if journeys are really necessary, especially during winter months when we see an increase in road accident rates.

''Obviously vital services have to be maintained, but employers need to ask themselves if it is acceptable for their drivers to be on the road in conditions such as thick fog, snow and ice.

''Would they be able to live with themselves if people died in a road accident which resulted from a journey they had insisted on and yet which was not absolutely necessary?

''Meetings may be able to be rescheduled or held by using video links or teleconferencing. Even a simple telephone call will suffice on some occasions. A safer mode of transport such as rail travel could also be considered.

''Employers need to be thinking about this issue now in the light of the forecast of prolonged periods of severe weather this winter.''

RoSPA has supported the work of the Meeting Without Moving Foundation, which aims to save lives by cutting the amount of time employees spend on the road.

He said employers should be dealing with the problem as part of their regular occupational road risk assessments and develop practical guidelines for their staff. They had a duty under health and safety law to take sensible steps to ensure the safety of their staff and others when driving for work.

If staff had to make journeys in bad weather, employers should ensure that their drivers were properly trained to cope with the conditions.

RoSPA guidance for safe journey planning while driving for work and on managing occupational road risk can be found at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/morr/ .

www.rospa.com

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