Avis Duty of Care White Paper

FACT: 200 drivers are killed or injured each week whilst travelling on company business

That’s a chilling figure, but the law of averages says that many of these drivers will be working for SMEs simply because they employ more people than any other sector of UK corporate business.

Research has consistently shown it is the SME sector which is least aware of the responsibilities facing employers around their driver’s safety and for that reason puts them most at risk of prosecution, if an employee is involved in, or causes a major accident whilst driving on company business.

SMEs, just like large corporate companies are expected to adopt a road safety policy, even if they only have a few employees driving on company business to ensure they protect themselves against possible prosecution.

The latest Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate homicide Act 2007 legislation was introduced to ensure companies focus on their employee safety and a jail sentence is possible if directors haven’t done everything possible to manage their driver’s safety.

Avis has researched all the key aspects that an SME should consider when developing its own Road Risk policy all in a single document. It is full of well rounded advice for SMEs to help them begin their own policy and ensure they meet their Duty of Care obligations.

Avis has also put into perspective how daily rental can help an employer when providing an employee with a car from a day to a period of a few months.