It is not uncommon for employees to drive for work. As an employer, it is their responsibility to ensure that they are managing the risks to their employees who drive for work. This requires more than just compliance with road traffic legislation. It can be seen as a laborious task, to ensure that all the correct procedures and practices are in place. However, it is essential for employers who are liable for having their employees using either rental cars or their own. There are various ways in which an employer or a business may be held liable for an accident, as such it is important to take all necessary steps to reduce these risks.
If you are employers who have employees using rental cars for work, here are a few things that are worth knowing to ensure the safety of individual team members and also your business.
Check The Vehicle
Ensure that the vehicle your employees are driving for work is suitable, road legal and meet minimum safety requirements. In addition to this, check that both company vehicles and personal vehicles used for business have been properly taxed.
Consider The Employee Driving The Vehicle
If your employee is driving a vehicle for work, ensure that they are legally entitled to drive that vehicle by conducting regular checks on their drivers’ license. You must also be confident that your employees are fit to drive safely, as such you must ensure that any policies you take out include a requirement for them to inform you of any health problems or medication that could potentially affect their driving ability.
Whilst ensuring that your employee is legally allowed to drive a vehicle, you want to ensure that they are competent to drive the vehicle. For instance, if they are driving a larger vehicle than what they are used to or if it is a manual instead of an automatic, you might want to consider providing some form of training or familiarisation with the vehicle first. You should never assume that an employee is a competent driver, solely on the basis that they have their license.
Insurance In Place
If your employees are driving rental cars to conduct business, commercial auto insurance is needed to cover them whilst they are on the road. From large fleets through to small businesses, if a rental car is used then it should be properly covered by a commercial auto insurance policy.
This provides protection from liability coverage & physical damage for amounts, usage and situations that is not covered by any personal car insurance policy.
Obtaining business car insurance might sound like a tedious task, one that could take up a large portion of your time finding the right policy and then waiting for it to come into effect. Fortunately, you can obtain business car insurance in minutes, fairly quick and efficient service. This means that you do not have to wait hours, days or even weeks before an employee can use a rental car to conduct business for work.
Prepare Your Employees
It might sound like a mammoth task ensuring that each employee using a rental car for work is safe and competent to do so. From conducting checks on the vehicles and individuals to obtaining insurance to protect them and the business from any costly lawsuits – all of this combines sounds like a time-consuming task, especially as it is protecting the individual and company in case of an incident.
Whilst you hope that an incident does not occur, there will always be the chance of a road accident happening. In the US alone, there are approximately six million car accidents in a year, with an average of 16,438 car crashes per day according to a recent study, showcasing car accident statistics across the states.
With such high numbers, a good employer will ensure that all of the correct measures have been taken to help reduce the risk of an accident happening to any of their employees.
