The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is developing free workshops to train young at-work drivers.

The safety charity is now looking for 10 fleets with young drivers to pilot the Driving for Work workshops.

The sessions have been designed to help employers better equip and protect their 17 to 24-years-old drivers.

A RoSPA study found that more than 60% of employers felt the current system of learner training and testing did not adequately prepare young people to drive as part of their job.

Young at-work drivers face, and create, a higher risk than other drivers.

RoSPA will initially pilot 10 interactive workshops, which are designed to be delivered in-company to groups of 10-15 young drivers, from July until October.

After the pilot workshops are completed, RoSPA will use feedback from the sessions to develop free training guides so that employers can run similar events for their own staff.

The workshops will cover issues raised by employers who took part in the Young Drivers at Work project survey, including the differences between driving for work and what is covered in the learner test.

Duncan Vernon, RoSPA road safety manager, said: “It is clear that further support is needed for young drivers at work, and employers have indicated they prefer face-to-face workshops as a way of giving that support.

“The Driving for Work workshops have been developed to go some way towards bridging the clear skills and training gap highlighted in our report, which was published earlier this year.

“Many young drivers are currently required to drive in a context for which they are not adequately prepared, and these workshops offer a chance to address some of the issues they face.

“Journey planning, hazard awareness and the causes of work accidents will be examined, as will ways of influencing the attitudes of young drivers.”

RoSPA is also offering opportunities for smaller businesses to send their young employees to workshops, so that firms with one or two young drivers can also benefit from the training.

Fleets interested in taking part in the workshops should contact Duncan Vernon at dvernon@rospa.com

Go to www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork/ for full details of the Young Drivers at Work project, which is being funded by the Department for Transport.