Driving for work: mobile phone

Produced with the support of
The Department for Transport
riving is the most dangerous work activity that most people do. Research indicates that about
20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured every week in crashes involving someone who
was driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes.
HSE Guidelines for employers,‘Driving atWork’, state that “health and safety law applies to on-the-road
work activities as to all work activities and the risks should be effectively managed within a health and
safety system”.
Therefore, employers must assess the risks involved in their staff’s use of the road for work and put in
place all ‘reasonably practicable’measures to manage those risks. Such measures are likely to more than
pay for themselves by reducing the organisation’s accident costs,many of which will be uninsured, such
as lost staff time or just doing the paperwork.
Mobile Phones
One risk is staff making or receiving calls on a mobile phone while driving*.
A substantial body of research shows that using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving is
a significant distraction, and substantially increases the risk of the driver crashing.High mileage and
company car drivers are more likely than most to use a mobile phone while driving.
Some employers provide mobile phones or reimburse the cost of work-related calls made on private ones.
There are good business reasons to do so.There are also good health and safety reasons for lone workers
and staff who travel in areas where summoning help (if they break down, for example) may be difficult.
But, this should not mean that staff should use the phone while driving. Drivers who use a mobile phone,
whether hand-held or hands-free:
■ are much less aware of what’s happening on the road around them
■ fail to see road signs
■ fail to maintain proper lane position and steady speed
■ are more likely to ‘tailgate’ the vehicle in front
■ react more slowly and take longer to brake
■ are more likely to enter unsafe gaps in traffic
■ feel more stressed and frustrated.
Research indicates that they are also four times more
likely to crash, injuring or killing themselves and/or
other people.
Using a hands-free phone while driving does not
significantly reduce the risks because the problems are
caused mainly by the mental distraction and divided
attention of taking part in a phone conversation at the
same time as driving.
*The terms ‘drivers’and ‘driving’in the leaflet include ‘riders’and ‘riding’.
D
The Law
Hand-held Phones
It is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while
driving. It is also an offence to “cause or permit”
a driver to use a hand-held mobile phone while
driving.Therefore, employers can be held liable as
well as the individual driver if they require
employees to use a hand-held phone while driving.
Hands-free Phones
It can be illegal to use a hands-free phone while
driving. Depending upon the individual
circumstances, drivers could be charged with ‘failing
to have proper control of their vehicle’. In more
serious cases, the use of any type of mobile phone could
result in prosecution for careless or dangerous driving.
The Police may check phone records when investigating
fatal and serious crashes to determine if use of the
phone contributed to the crash.
Employers who require staff to use any mobile phone
while driving for work could be prosecuted if an
investigation determined that such use of the phone
contributed to a crash. Claims in the civil courts could
also result.
This leaflet gives simple advice on how employers and
line managers can easily enjoy the business and
communication benefits of mobile phones, without
experiencing the financial and safety risks of their staff
using mobile phones while driving on work journeys.
A sample ‘Mobile Phones and Driving Policy’is attached.This can be adopted as written or adapted to suit
your organisation’s needs. It can be used as a stand-alone policy or incorporated into a wider ‘Driving for
Work’policy.
What employers should do
Expect Safe Driving
Ensure all staff, including senior managers and line managers,
understand that the organisation expects everyone who drives
for work to drive safely for their own, and others’benefit.
Consult Staff
Ensure that staff and/or their safety representatives are fully
consulted about the organisation’s policy on Mobile Phones and
Driving and that this is reviewed periodically in joint health and
safety committee meetings.
Raise Awareness
As part of recruitment, training and staff appraisal, ensure that drivers and line managers are
reminded about:
■ the dangers of using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone while driving
■ the organisation’s policy on mobile phone use
■ the need to go to voicemail, or to switch the phone off while driving, and to stop in a safe place to
check messages, or to allow a passenger to use the phone
■ that good communication can easily be maintained without using a phone while driving
■ the importance of line managers not expecting staff to make or receive calls when driving
■ the legal, financial and bad PR consequences that could result from using a mobile phone while driving.
Avoid Using a Mobile Phone
In particular, emphasise that staff should never make or receive calls on a mobile phone, or use any
similar device, while driving.
Lead by Example
Senior Managers, from the head of the organisation down, should lead by personal
example by not using a mobile phone while they are driving themselves.
Plan Safer Journeys
Ensure that journey plans include time and places to stop for rest and refreshment,
and to check messages and return calls. For further advice see ‘Driving for Work:
Safer Journey Planning’at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/worksafejourney.pdf
Review Work Practices
Review work practices to ensure they do not pressurise staff into making or
receiving calls when driving.
Record and Investigate Crashes and Incidents
Require staff who are involved in any crash or damage-only incident when
driving at work (in their own, a hire or company vehicle) to report this to their
line manager. Check if the driver was using a mobile phone, and what (if any)
action is necessary to prevent repeat occurrences. If the company provides the
phone, a check could be made against the phone bill.
Provide Training
Interview staff who have been identified as using a phone while driving, or been involved in a crash, to
establish the details and to identify what lessons can be learned.The approach should be positive and
helpful, rather than punitive, although it should be made clear that further incidents may lead to
disciplinary procedures. Consider if driving training would help.
Liaise with the Police
Make it clear to staff that the organisation will co-operate with police enquiries resulting from a crash
and will supply to the police all relevant information on the employee to whom the vehicle is allocated or
if someone else was driving at the time, their details.
Monitor Compliance
Managers should discuss this issue with their drivers during periodic staff appraisals and team meetings.
It should form part of an individual employee’s performance appraisal, leading, where appropriate, to new
personal performance targets. Staff should be encouraged to report any pressure from managers or
customers to use a phone while driving.
Further Advice
■ HSE Guide,‘Driving atWork’– www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf
■ ‘Managing Occupational Road Risk:The RoSPA Guide’(price £25.00) – www.rospa.com/drivertraining
■ ‘The Risk of Using a Mobile Phone While Driving’– www.rospa.com
■ www.orsa.org.uk
■ www.dft.gov.uk (Road safety section)
■ DfT FAQs on the mobile phone and driving offence –
www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_025216.hcsp
■ DfT leaflet on ‘Mobile phones and driving’– www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/advice/mobilephones.htm
■ www.hse.gov.uk/roadsafety/index.htm
■ ‘Driving for Work: Safer Journey Planner’– www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/worksafejourney.pdf
■ ‘Driving for Work: Safer Speed Policy’– www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/workspeeds.pdf
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST
Telephone: 0870 777 2171/0121 248 2000
Fax: 0870 777 2199/0121 248 2001
Registered Charity No. 207823
VAT Registration No. 655 1316 49 www.rospa.com
MS191
Company Mobile Phones and Driving Policy
As part of our overall health and safety policy, ________________________________________________
is committed to reducing the risks which our staff face and create when driving or riding for work.We ask
all our staff to play their part, whether they use a company vehicle, their own or a hire vehicle.
Staff driving for work must never make or receive calls on a mobile phone, whether hand-held or
hands-free, while driving. Persistent failure to do so will be regarded as a serious matter.
Senior Managers must:
Lead by example, both in the way they drive themselves and by not tolerating poor driving practice
among colleagues.They must never make or receive a call on a mobile phone while driving.
Line Managers must ensure:
■ they also lead by personal example
■ they do not expect staff to answer calls when they are driving
■ staff understand their responsibilities not to use a hand-held or hands-free mobile phone
while driving
■ staff switch phones to voicemail, or switch them off, while driving, or ask a passenger to use
the phone
■ staff plan journeys to include rest stops which also provide opportunities to check messages and
return calls
■ work practices do not pressurise staff to use a mobile phone while driving
■ compliance with the mobile phone policy is included in team meetings and staff appraisals and
periodic checks are conducted to ensure that the policy is being followed
■ they follow our monitoring, reporting and investigation procedures to help learn lessons which could
help improve our future road safety performance
■ they challenge unsafe attitudes and behaviours, encourage staff to drive safely, and lead by personal
example by never themselves using a phone when driving.
Staff who drive for work must
■ never use a hand-held or hands-free phone while driving
■ plan journeys so they include rest stops when messages can be checked and calls returned
■ ensure their phone is switched off and can take messages while they are driving, or allow a
passenger to use the phone
■ co-operate with monitoring, reporting and investigation procedures.