Reasons, to check, verify and validate Fleet Vehicle Drivers' Licences.
Employers have a Duty of Care under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974)(2) which requires them to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. This includes verification that participants are fully entitled to drive the vehicle they have been allocated. It is an offence for the company to allow someone access to drive a vehicle whilst unlicensed to do so.
It is also an offence under the Road Traffic Act (1988) Section 3 for a person to cause or permit another person to drive on a road a motor vehicle of any class if that other person is not the holder of a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class. Section 87 (2) of The Road Traffic Act 1988 states: "It is an offence for a person to cause or permit another person to drive on a road a motor vehicle of any class if that other person is not the golder of a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class." Quite apart from current legislation, any business that allows employees (or others) to drive a company vehicle (even if that vehicle may be loaned to them) must protect themselves by establishing that the driver's licence is, in fact, genuine and not a fraudulent duplicate licence. Instances of fake licences are on the rise and it is not uncommon for persons with over 12 points (thereby normally disqualified) to obtain 'alternative' licences to remain in employment.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007) introduces a new offence for prosecuting companies and other organisations for gross failures in the management of health and safety with fatal consequences. Failure to demonstrate rigorous licence checking could expose the company to a breach under this act.
A common condition of a fleet motor insurance policy is that the person driving holds a licence to drive the vehicle or has held and is not disqualified for holding or obtaining such a licence. Potentially, a driver without a valid licence could be uninsured. This would, in itself, have consequences for the employer who is expected to have taken reasonable steps to ensure that his drivers are, indeed, authorised to drive. Incidences of drivers still driving on revoked licences are relatively high at about 1 in 300, according to driver licence validation statistics from the DVLA.
Fleet Licence Check gives peace of mind to employers, where they can demonstrate they have a robust process in place to check licences through a direct link between Fleet Licence Check and the DVLA.
Currently 700,000 licence checks are being undertaken by DVLA per annum (compared to 30,000 5 years ago) suggesting more fleets are taking responsibility for driving licence validation.
Our qualified and helpful team is at your service to help you with any driving licence related questions or issues.