Fleet Risk Consultants

I am not thinking about illegal drugs here either.

I have spent the last few days dealing with a cough and cold, not man flu I hasten to add, just an ordinary cold. I my personal case any cold I get always results in a rather nasty cough. I have been taken mainly paracetamol and codeine, because most of the cough medicines on the market contain alcohol, which could trigger in a breath alcohol test.

Now I will always take the correct medicine to get better quickly , but I always read the documentation that comes with the medicine. Some of them state that you should not operate heavy machinery and when it comes to heavy machinery there are few vehicles that are not what I would call heavy machinery.

Now if you are driving under the influence of drugs, whether they are illegal or prescribed drugs and you have a collision you stand a good chance of being prosecuted for driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs. The worrying part for business owners is that if that driver is your employee and you do not have systems and procedures to ensure your employees are not driving under the influence, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a prosecution for permitting your employee to drive whilst under the influence.

That is food for thought during this, National Road Safety Week and as the theme is ‘Not a Drop, Not a Drag’. If you are at all concerned about how to deal with this potentially difficult subject then you should perhaps give our team a call for the solution to your problems.

Nigel Grainger
Senior Consultant

Fleet Risk Consultants

With this week being National Road Safety Week it is a good time to review this topic.

You may be asking what drink and drugs has to do with the Corporate Manslaughter Legislation, and you may be surprised to find out that the lack of a policy on drink and drugs could land you in serious trouble or even lead to a trip to crown court facing a charge under various pieces of legislation.

If you have even the slightest suspicion that a member of your team is abusing substances or even have turned up to work under the influence then you have both a legal and a moral obligation to act.

On the same topic, as we are in the run up to Christmas, if you are planning to have a staff party at which your business is paying for some of the drinks or food. You need to ensure that you have adequate measures to ensure your staff do not drive home from the event nor do they drive to work the following morning.

If you are unsure of your obligations then please call our team for some free advice, before you get it wrong.

Nigel Grainger

Senior Consultant

Fleet Risk Consultants