HSA to focus attention on vehicle fleets

The Health & Safety Authority (HSA) has commissioned research on accident statistics involving vehicles at work, including truck drivers and other people driving for a living. The HSA is liaising with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and Gardai to increase awareness of accidents involving work vehicles. One in three accidents in Britain involve people driving for work, but no such statistics are available in Ireland.

The authority says it will interview employers, unions and employees as part of its research. It is understood that a report will be compiled by early summer.

The authority’s inspectors will use these results for a targeted inspection programme of vehicle fleets. The HSA says it will review health and safety management in the vehicle transport sector by carrying out 500 inspections this year. These will concentrate on fleet risk assessments while travelling on public roads.

The HSA is also developing a series of regional seminars on workplace transport safety, including information on reducing driving risks. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 states that ‘‘every employer shall identify the hazards . . . under his or her control, assess the risks presented by those hazards and be in possession of a written assessment [of these]”.

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