Fleet managers and company car drivers are being offered new police-approved training to help ensure compliancy with legislation governing driving for work.

Company car drivers will be given classroom tutoring on their legal and safety responsibilities as well as on-road assessments of their driving.

Fleet managers will be offered more in-depth classroom session covering the Corporate Manslaughter Act and other legislation regarding their companies’ responsibilities to protect their at-work drivers.

The BSM course was developed with the Thames Valley Police who provided guidance and advice.

Thames Valley Police is now recommending the course to local companies, although BSM confirmed it is in discussions with other police forces and expects to offer the training nationally.

The aim is to reduce the risk of an accident involving in at-work driver and, should one occur, to reduce the risk of prosecution of company owners, fleet managers or their drivers.

However, Sean Crotty, the head of police driver training at the Thames Valley force and the man who provided guidance on the course’s content, warned that this will not guarantee a fleet will not be prosecuted should one of its drivers be involved in a crash.

“We carried out a rigorous critique of the course content – we quality assure it - and we are happy that it puts a lot of safeguards in place for a company that takes it,” he said. “However, taking the course does not provide a guarantee.”

BSM said it developed the course following a “significant number” of enquiries from fleet managers concerned about how the legislation affects them.

“Fleet and company car managers must ensure that their drivers are fully aware of the legal consequences of their driving and equipped with the knowledge and skills to avoid accidents,” Abu Shafi, Joint Managing Director of BSM, said.

“Our specially designed course will help companies to understand the full implications of the legislation.”

The half-day course also contains advice on eco-driving. The training is available to fleets of all sizes and costs £99 per driver and £149 for a fleet manager.