The Law

Transport Operators and employers have clear legal obligations to ensure that anyone driving for them on business purposes holds a valid licence. This extends beyond just employees to include temporary staff and even people working on a voluntary basis.
DH Licence Check can help you ensure you comply with the rules of the law. Here’s a quick summary of the key relevant legislation.

Road Traffic Act 1988

The Road Traffic Act 1988 clearly states: “It is an offence for a person to cause or permit another person to drive on a road a motor vehicle of any class if that other person is not the holder of a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class.”

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

This act reinforces the duty of care employers have to their employees and extends it to the vehicle as part of the workplace.

Organisations that require employees to drive as part of their work must monitor their employees’ entitlement to drive and verify their driving licences.

This act affects all companies and organisations regardless of size and the penalties for infringement are severe.
In the event of a work related death attention will focus on the organisations senior management to see if they have put the correct procedures in place and that those procedures were robust enough, monitored and managed properly.

Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009

European legislation, Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 (known as the ‘admission to the occupation regulation’) came into force in December 2011 and introduced the concept of Most Serious Infringements (MSI). The regulations outline 7 MSIs which cover a range of transport law areas. One of the most serious of these is permitting an employee to drive without a valid driving licence.

The potential consequences of an MSI being detected are extremely severe and the loss of good repute by an undertaking or transport manager will be considered.

If the Traffic Commissioner finds that it would constitute an appropriate response, the MSI will result in the loss of repute and, in the case of an undertaking, the revocation of the operator’s licence.

Where a transport manager has lost repute, they will be declared unfit to manage transport activities and their Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) will no longer be valid in any member state.

The Health and Safety at Work Act

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires employers to take appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees and others who may be affected by their activities when at work. This includes the time when they are driving at work.