ALL THINGS LICENSING
ROAD SAFETY – THE NEXT CHALLENGE IN THE ONGOING LITIGATION ABOUT WORKERS’ RIGHTS?
Article by Mike Smith, Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety at Guildford Borough Council and Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing South East Region.
Please note that this article represents my own views which are not presented as the views of the Institute of Licensing or Guildford BC.
The past couple of years has seen a number of challenges between drivers and operators about employment status, workers’ rights and contracts which has, and continues to change, the private hire landscape.
What does appear clear is that this litigation is unlikely to subside as drivers struggle, under sometimes difficult conditions, leading to potential new avenues of challenge, and I very much wonder whether health and safety at work could be the next area of law to be explored in the ongoing examination of driver and operator relationships.
The term ‘landmark’ is often synonymous to taxi driving and describing decisions, and we have had a couple of key rulings recently around contract status in the private hire world, however no other piece of legislation perhaps deserves the ‘landmark’ accolade than the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA).
The Act celebrated its half-century on 31 July this year and was born out of industrial disasters, such as Aberfan and Flixborough, in the 1960s and 70s and lead to concepts such as risk management, which were groundbreaking at the time but still relevant today.
Since the 1800s legislation has been passed to try and keep people safe at work, however prior to 1974, laws were prescriptive and did not differentiate between businesses meaning legislation was not appropriate for many, and did not cover anticipated or potential risks.
The Act itself is often the subject of intense criticism and the perception of red tape it is believed to create. However, its aims are simple: to protect workers and the public. In 1974-75 the workplace fatality rate was
60
651, compared to 135 in 2022-23. This decline can be attributed in part to a modal shift from working in factories to offices in this time. Whilst any fatality in the workplace is a tragedy and unnecessary, there have been wider preventions of ill health and accidents, as well as a continual expectation on employers to improve, through taking responsibility for safety themselves, rather than following a prescriptive set of rules imposed on them.
The HSWA mandates that employers take steps to ensure the health and safety of employees and others affected by their work activities. This includes driving at and for work. This applies whether employees use company vehicles, hired vehicles or their own vehicles.
The act also confers duties on self-employed persons and employees to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work, and to co-operate with employers so that any duties imposed on employers can be met.
Licensing and health and safety are inextricably linked. Many councils’ licensing and health and safety teams sit in the same service. Public safety is an objective of much licensing law and the taxi and private hire trade is no different with the Statutory Standards in 2020 identifying taxis as a high-risk environment.
In this article I will explore some of the duties placed on companies which employ (there’s that word again) drivers and subsequently have a number of respon- sibilities to ensure they have a company policy setting out their responsibilities and the steps they will take which are essential for managing risks associated with employees who drive for work, as well as other responsibilities, such as having conducted a risk assessment to reduce the potential hazards associated with driving. I will also look at some of the duties drivers undertaking a work activity have under health and safety law.
Please note however that these views are my own based upon having recently had to undertake a driving at work training course for my own employment, and are not to be constituted as correct legal or professional advice.
SEPTEMBER 2024 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74
