Driving for Living a Significant Work Risk

Mar 10, 2017

A research paper by Professor Anne Drummond of UCD found that 23% of fatal road traffic accidents involved a worker.  Of the 193 people killed in fatal work-related road traffic accidents, 29 were professional drivers and the 164 were bystanders.

In November 2016, the new “Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (General Application Amendment Regulations) SI 370/2016” came into force. The new regulations require that where employees die at their place of work, or in the course of carrying out their work, regardless of the location, the fatality is reportable to the HSA.

There is, the report concludes, a clear overlap between road safety management and OSH management. From a road safety perspective, the report states every driver is responsible for his/her driving practises. From an OSH perspective, employers are responsible for providing safe systems of work, which include compliance with legislation, carrying out road risk assessments, developing policies, raising awareness, providing information and training and ensuring that equipment is provided and used.  The report is essential reading for anyone involved in managing or advising on health and safety.

The research paper – Fatal Crash: fatal collisions on the road and health and safety – has been published by IOSH and can be found here - http://www.iosh.co.uk/roadfatalities

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