Legal issues around employing drivers

If you’re employing people to drive, you have a responsibility to make sure they’re safe and legal to drive. They must have the correct licence and qualifications, and they may also need a tachograph to record their hours. See the guide on GOV.UK for more information on employing people to drive.

You’ll need to assess the risks involved in your employees' driving and put in place 'reasonably practicable' measures to manage these risks; for example, having a policy on how mobile phones should be used can ensure employees do not feel pressured into using a phone while driving.

You’ll also need to make sure their driving skills are up to date by providing appropriate training. If you employ a lot of drivers, in-house training might be the best way to provide cost-effective training tailored to the needs of your business. Fleet driver training might also be useful: see the fleet training page.

Some organisations can provide driving tests to their staff by applying to appoint delegated examiners. Find out more about delegated examiners in the Becoming an HGV instructor section.


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