<p>Investigations into road crashes are likely to take many months and can cause huge business disruption.</p> <p>Interviews with the driver &ndash; if they survive the crash &ndash; colleagues, line managers, fleet department employees, senior managers and directors are likely to form part of the investigation process.</p> <p>Leading health and safety lawyer Michael Appleby, of Housemans in London, said: &quot;If the police decide there is a workplace ingredient to any road crash they will start to look at how the organisation involved managed the risk.</p> <p>&quot;They will interview employees under caution and see where the chain of command takes them and where responsibility lies.</p> <p>&quot;For many employers work-related road risk is still not on their radar so the investigation is likely to be long, time consuming and <br /> ultimately hugely damaging.&quot;</p> <p>Publicity around a work-related crash and any subsequent court case is likely to result in significant brand damage.</p> <p>Appleby said: &quot;All companies should be concerned about how an incident will impact on them in the marketplace. Many tender documents ask about criminal convictions and generally successful organisations only want to be associated with similarly successful organisations.&quot;</p> <p>Kevin Basnett, an employment specialist and partner with west country-based Goughs Solicitors and an adviser to Fleet Support Group, said: &quot;The police are now on active look out for management failure. If there is a serious road traffic incident with just a hint of business involvement the managers of that organisation can expect an extremely intensive police investigation into how they run their business and manage their drivers, vehicles and journeys.</p> <p>&quot;Good managers will improve their business and reduce the risk by proactive performance management. Those who assume the role of manager, but do not actively manage or pay lip-service to it are extremely exposed.&quot;</p> <p>Following a recent case at Leeds Crown Court after a fatal road traffic crash, chief crown <br /> prosecutor Rob Turnbull said: &quot;The Crown Prosecution Service takes road safety issues seriously, and that is why we will continue to prosecute robustly those who put others&rsquo; lives at risk.&quot;<br /> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Case study: Seashell Trust<br /> </strong>The Greater Manchester-based Seashell Trust has only a small fleet of three minibuses, two people carriers and two delivery vans, but about 75 privately-owned vehicles could be used on business trips, forming a substantial grey fleet.</p> <p>The charity decided to bring transport within its overall health and safety management focus to gain maximum compliance with the ever-growing list of laws, regulations and protocols governing occupational road risk management.<br /> <br /> Measures taken by Seashell Trust, which is a beacon of best practice after becoming a business champion and joining the Government-backed &lsquo;Driving for Better Business&rsquo; campaign, in relation to grey fleet include:<br /> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Driving risk assessments for each type of vehicle.</li> <li>The assessments identify individual hazards and their effects; those affected; and precautions or control measures to reduce risks.</li> <li>Staff must complete a checklist to confirm the registration details of their vehicle and mileage data prior to and at the end of their journey. This enables the document to be tied in to the mileage claims.</li> <li>The checklist requires members of staff to confirm the status of their insurance in relation to business use, the roadworthiness of their vehicle, and the validity of their driving licence.</li> <li>Staff must complete a journey risk assessment prior to each trip. This document provides the information likely to be required in the event of a road traffic incident and ensures that the driver has all the relevant information relating to the condition and requirements of their passengers and that the journey has been authorised.</li> <li>The journey risk assessment form also confirms business use insurance validity, the appropriate driving licence is held, and any MoT certificate is current.</li> </ul> <p align="left">Mark Geraghty, chief executive of the charity which was previously known as The Royal School for the Deaf and Communication Disorders, said: &quot;The Seashell Trust and its staff have an extremely good work-related road safety record. Our aspiration is to ensure that this is maintained.<br /> <br /> &quot;We developed and updated existing procedures with the involvement of our staff that use their cars on work-related trips.&nbsp;</p> <p align="left">See the article <a href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2010/3/9/rising-danger-from-staff-using-own-cars-for-work/36123/">'Rising danger from staff using own cars for work'</a><br /> See more in the <a href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/fleet-operations/grey-fleet/">Grey Fleet&nbsp;section.</a><br /> See more <a href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/fleet-operations/case-studies/">Case Studies.</a><br /> &nbsp;</p> <p align="left"><em>Taken from Small Fleet Review Feb 2010.</em></p>