Occupational road safety

Information on how to manage road safety risks

Driving and riding for work are among the highest-risk tasks we undertake in our working lives. The University’s Local Transport strategy identifies Priority 1 as 'Reducing road related deaths and injuries in and around Oxford'.

Beyond the risks faced by those driving or riding, accidents are more likely to result in the injury or death of more vulnerable road users who are not directly involved in the driving activity, such as pedestrians.

Driving and riding for work is considered a work-related hazard, therefore the University has a duty to manage these risks effectively. This includes safeguarding both our employees and any other individuals who may be affected by our work-related road use.

Policy
Inside of a car, showing steering wheel and screen

©OUImages/John Cairns Photography

 

The Safety Executive Group policy and supporting guidance has been developed to assist divisions, departments, line managers, supervisors and employees understand their responsibilities in managing road safety risks. 

This policy applies a PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT approach to ensure road safety risks are managed, monitored and continuously improved. 

[Insert Link to Policy]

Additionally, an eLearning module is available for staff who have responsibilities for managing road transport safety within their department or for their team.

[Insert Link for Work related road safety management eLearning]

Risk assessment
Bikes locked to bike racks between the Andrew Wiles Building and the Radcliffe Humanities Quarter

© University of Oxford Images / Public Affairs Directorate

 

If you or your team travel by road for work purposes, and/or you operate vehicles that are owned, hired or leased by the University, you should include occupational road travel in your general risk assessment. 

To fully understand what you need to do, you first need to identify the profile of your vehicles and drivers/riders. This may require some research and assistance from others within your department and from other departments such as the Insurance Team and Finance. 

Generally, your profile will fall into either or both of these categories:

Fleet type Definition Examples Controls
Grey Fleet Workers that use their own vehicles for work purposes
  • Private cars and motorcycles
  • Private bicycles – manual and electric 
  • Privately hired cars, minibuses, motorcycles, bicycles and scooters
  • DVLA Driving Licence checks (relevant to vehicles)
  • Insurance – business use
  • MOT (if applicable)
  • Additional training (such as advanced driving or cycle training)
University Fleet

Vehicles owned, leased or hired directly by the University

Note: students driving University owned, hired or leased vehicles are to be managed the same way as an employee
  • Cars
  • Vans
  • Bicycles – manual and electric
  • Mini-buses
  • Agricultural vehicles
  • Road worthy plant or machinery
  • Trailers
  • Research Vehicles (such as autonomous cars)
  • DVLA Driving Licence checks (relevant to vehicles)
  • University Insurance registration
  • MOT (if applicable)
  • Planned and reactive maintenance
  • Vehicle pre-use checks
  • Training records (such as specialist vehicle specific)

Once your profile is identified you can carry out your risk assessment to include the following in line with Health and Safety Executive guidance: 

A Vehicle Requirement Matrix has also been devised to assist with identifying licensing, insurance, maintenance and training requirements for specific types of vehicle being operated. 

Also consider items such as:

  • welfare arrangements
  • personal protective equipment
  • breakdown and emergency arrangements
Competency and training
A row of red scooters parked on the side of a street

 

Your risk assessment should identify what competencies vehicle operators need to have, including licencing requirements. These competencies should be included in job descriptions to ensure that competency is considered in the recruitment process and as a role develops. 

Additional training may be considered for drivers or riders who undertake higher risk activities, such as those who drive daily, drive complex vehicles, drive multiple passengers, or regularly drive long distances. 

If additional training is necessary, departments will need to resource its provision.

The following training is available within the University: 

Examples of Additional Training and Assessments:

Further information is provided in the guidance section.

Guidance

Expand All

Relevant University policies and resources

Fleet management policies and resources

Specialist vehicles

Example documents

HSE and external guidance

Financial assistance

Related links

  • Policy
  • Information toolkit
  • Vehicle Requirement Matrix 
  • eLearning