Company cars in more collisions, conference told

Company cars are involved in 30 to 40 per cent more collisions than ordinary cars, a conference on road safety at work has been told today.

The conference, jointly organised by the Road Safety Authority and the Health and Safety Authority, was also told that up to one third of all road collisions involve drivers who are using their vehicle for work.

Vehicles are the biggest cause of work-related deaths and a significant contributor to work related injuries. Some 100 people using work-related vehicles are killed each year, or more than one third of the near 300 people who are killed on the Republic's roads annually.

But if the figures on-site related vehicle incidents, in places such as construction sites and factories were included, the death and injury rate would be even more severe, the conference was told.

Speaking in Dublin Castle, Noel Brett chief executive of the Road Safety Authority said many employers failed to fulfil their legal obligations to ensure the safety of those who drove company vehicles - or even drove their own vehicles on a mileage rate.

He said the authorities had produced a CD ROM of the law relating to employers obligations and other issues surrounding road safety at work and this was now available on the authority's website at www.rsa.ie

"Managing staff safety, while driving for work, makes good business sense, especially in the current economic climate as it protects staff and business profits. For example, for every €1 claimed on insurance, arising from work related road incidents, companies may have to pay a further €8 to €36 for uninsured losses," he said.

Mr Martin O'Halloran, chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority, said it was "particularly concerning that 42 per cent of Irish businesses have no driving for work policy as part of their health and safety management system.

The International Conference on Road Safety At Work, is being addressed by experts from Ireland and the UK working in the area of road safety in the work place. Presentations include research into work related road risk, multi agency enforcement, driver fatigue and a review of occupational road safety world wide.