The Fleet Safety Forum, a division of Brake, the road safety charity, has published new guidance for fleet managers called Managing Agency Drivers.
The guidance, sponsored by Pertemps, provides vital advice on how to minimise the risks posed by using agency staff to drive for work.
Research has shown that agency drivers are more prone to be involved in collisions and with 42% of UK companies using temporary staff as drivers it is a key safety issue fleet managers need to address.
Roz Cumming, development manager at Brake, said: "Companies should be aware that they have the same level of responsibility for the safety of agency drivers working for them, as they do for their permanent employees.
“Managers must approach this proactively and ensure drivers provided by recruitment agencies are appropriately qualified and receive the same training as their own staff.
“This new e-guidance is a valuable resource for fleet managers and I'd urge anyone who doesn't already subscribe to sign up to the Fleet Safety Forum to get access to it and many other resources like it."
The Fleet Safety Forum guidance provides clear advice to help managers reduce risks associated with agency drivers.
It covers: effective partnership working with the driver agency; rigorous inductions on company safe driving policy and vehicle checks; and subjecting agency drivers to the same spot checks, e.g. for drug and alcohol use, as company employed drivers.
The guidance also features a best practice case study of a fleet operator that has successfully mitigated the risks associated with agency drivers.
It is available for free to Fleet Safety Forum subscribers or can be purchased for £5 by non-subscribers. The first 50 non-subscribers to request the guidance will get a copy for free. Please email admin@brake.org.uk or call 01484 559909 to order.
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