SMALL fleets are to be brought under the spotlight in the new Government initiative to improve the safety of company car drivers. The new Work Related Road Safety Task Group, led by the Health and Safety Executive, has identified the need to include companies with about 50 employees because they form the bulk of organisations in the UK - but because of their size often find it difficult to implement the same degree of risk management strategy as larger firms.

The task group unites the HSE with organisations such as the police, Confederation of British Industry, Driving Standards Agency and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents with the task of finding out how workplace health and safety legislation can govern work-related journeys. Roger Bibbings, RoSPA occupational safety adviser, said: 'Small companies are the dominant employer in the UK and therefore we must make sure that whatever the task group comes up with is manageable by them.

'It will be no good us saying risk management must include black box technology because they will be beyond the scope of small organisations. But it doesn't mean they should be any less well protected or less obliged to manage risk.' He said that insurers have an important role in helping these companies, by perhaps introducing safety check-lists for drivers and offer advice on route planning.