Never Forget Your Legal Responsibilities

Laura Thomas, barrister specializing in health and safety and transport law, says that while companies should always aim for the moral gold standard in managing risk, they must not forget their legal responsibilities either.

Never aim for legal compliance, but for the moral and ethical gold standard when it comes to safety,” barrister and former Deputy Traffic Commissioner Laura Thomas advised delegates at National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety Conference.

She says that not only is the moral argument for safety the most important, but that at the heart of every serious incident there is a person whose choices may have been different that day had they been surrounded by a culture of care.

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Laura works for many organisations developing their health and safety strategy. She says that all operators, whether of vans or trucks, should familiarize themselves with all the road transport legislation, and pay particular attention to the undertakings of the Operator’s Licence and to the Highway Code.

“The Highway Code holds the status of guidance, but it sets out many areas that are law. And it’s what the courts look at when considering the standard of a reasonably competent driver. So essentially, the Highway Code is your Bible,” she says. “If a driver has fallen below that standard, it’d be careless driving, if they’ve fallen far below, it would be dangerous driving. So that’s why the Highway Code is so important.”

Regular checking of the Highway Code is essential because it does change and evolve.

“Reasonably practicable” asks operators to weigh the lessened risk against the time, money and effort it requires. However, she says, in practice, the safety portion of this weighs far more heavily than the money and time.

However, she has a warning for CV operators. “Historically, the HSE generally stayed clear of road-related issues. But in my view, the needle is moving. And I have seen more regulator involvement in roadrelated issues rather than it simply being handed over to the police or the DVSA.”

The other important change in health and safety is that far more emphasis is being placed on health – not least mental health. “In the past safety was shouted and health was whispered,” she says. “I think that’s changing. HSE is starting to focus very much on stress in the workplace. Fatigue is really being looked at. And there is now

“As leaders the influence you hold on the health and safety culture in your organisation is exponential. People learn from behaviours. So you need to be demonstrating exemplary behaviours when it comes to health and safety,” she says. Directors can and are held accountable for road transport failings under the Corporate Manslaughter Act. Although prosecutions have not been as numerous as expected, directors have been jailed for fatiguerelated collisions and other fatalities

“Why aim for the Gold Standard?” she asks. “Because safety is all about people. And people are complex. We bring our whole selves to work. Every aspect of our lives impacts our decision making. That’s why I advocate a people-centred health and safety and road safety culture.”

“Then there’s the Goods Vehicle Licensing of Operators 1995. The elements of the licensing act are very useful when looking at all commercial vehicles, including van fleets. The principles underpinning the operator licence regime are also applicable to smaller vehicles so it’s certainly worth knowing,” she says.

She challenged operators to read and ensure they understood their undertakings. “Many of them may surprise you,” she said.

Putting the health in H&S a new ISO standard 45003, which looks at psychological health and safety in the workplace.”

Operators should also pay attention to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Not only does it lay out an employer’s responsibility to ensure the safety of employees and the public ‘so far as reasonably practicable’ but there have been recent changes both to enforcement and scope.

This means that operators need to pay attention to their employee’s well-being and not simply the prevention of injury. “The Health and Safety at Work Act includes health, and that includes mental health, stress and psychological safety.”

This underpins her assertion that the gold standard approach and a culture of care must be implemented. “In every incident I have ever investigated or defended, there has been a person at its centre who has had a really bad day and that affected their choices and behaviours,” she says. “Safety is about people.”

She encouraged delegates to ask employees how they are, not once, but twice in order to elicit a genuine response.

Laura’s top tips are:

• Ask why things aren’t working – and act on it. Your actions could save lives.

• Say what you will do

• Do what you say

• And have the paperwork to prove it

“Most of this is about people and behaviours. The paperwork never leads behaviours – it simply captures and reflects it,” she says.