Small businesses open to duty of care prosecution

Nearly 40% of employers that offer cash for car instead of a company vehicles do not conduct regular safety checks.

The same business travel survey also found only 5% limited the number of miles staff could drive in a week.

According to the report authors, National Car Rental, these findings suggest many small businesses are putting employees at risk of an accident. And themselves at risk of liability.

National suggests forthcoming corporate manslaughter legislation could leave small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) open to prosecution if vehicle condition is found to be faulty.

“SMEs should look to ensure their staff are driving safe and reliable vehicles to meet their duty of care obligations,” commented Frank Reynolds, SME specialist, National Car Rental.

“Reassuringly the survey revealed that 93% of businesses check employee driving licences and 80% check staff insurance policies.

“However, there is more to managing the risk of staff travelling for business, than these checks. Companies need to make sure employees are in reliable vehicles that are fully maintained. That means carrying out regular checks on private vehicles used for business – something SMEs may struggle to resource.”