Compliance App Assists Employers Unaware that Grey is the New Black

Grey is the new black when it comes to liability issues, yet too many employers are unaware of that, according to vehicle compliance specialist, HH Driveright.

HH Driveright says thousands of British workers are regularly using their own vehicles for work purposes but only a fraction of employers are carrying out any checks on vehicles’ roadworthiness, licences, MOTs, maintenance regimes or insurance covers.

What is known as a company’s ‘grey fleet’ – its unofficial company car fleet in practice – could cause it just as many issues as its official ‘black’ fleet, in terms of accidents, liability and health and safety compliance.  If employers have not carried out checks on employees’ vehicles and rights to drive, they could find liability passes to them, for incidents during working hours.

The emphasis on protecting other road users has increased since the publication of the new 2022 Highway Code.  The January 2022 edition introduced a hierarchy of road users, prioritising the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders, all sitting at the top of the hierarchy’s apex.  Having ‘responsibility’ for road users higher up the hierarchy than oneself, would seemingly impose greater safety obligations and have liability implications.

With new rights for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly in terms of new priorities at traffic lights and junctions, the risk of an employee injuring another road user is heightened, especially as 61% of drivers had not read the recent updates, as late as September 2022.[i]

Crash for cash scams are also proliferating, as economic issues bite.  They constituted the greatest number of insurance frauds in the last quarter of 2021.[ii]  Employees could either become caught up in one, or engage in one, if seeking to profit.

Add to this the heightened risk of accidents because of winter weather conditions, plus potentially poorly maintained vehicles due to the cost of living crisis, and grey fleets should give much cause for concern.  

Whether an employee injures or harms a third party, or suffers injuries or worse themselves, the employer needs to demonstrate they carried out all required checks and maintained a duty of care for their employee, as required by the Health and Safety at Work Act.  If not, they could be found liable and face prosecution.  Either the company, or an individual officer or director, could find themselves in the dock and fined or prosecuted.

HH Driveright has an easy App-based solution that enables an employer to quickly take control of this situation and bring its grey fleet under its compliance umbrella.  By ensuring all employees who use their cars for company purposes have a completed profile within the App, a company can ensure all information it needs to collect is gathered, retained and updated. 

The App can collect evidence of licences, MOTs and maintenance, vehicle service history, insurance and much more, ensuring all required data on the grey fleet is acquired.

Bespoke options could also be added, to suit an individual company’s needs, whether they wish to demonstrate evidence of driver training, or special health and safety awareness sessions on topics such as personal safety, carrying cash or lone worker protection.

In addition, an HH Driveright Damage Capture technology, uses artificial intelligence to automatically highlight issues with a vehicle’s bodywork, tyres, or glass, with the user simply having to walk around the vehicle filming it.  This could identify issues on a grey fleet vehicle, which can be highlighted and addressed by the vehicle’s owner.

HH Driveright’s managing director, Rebecca Hall, says, “Our HH Driveright App is as useful an asset for those who have a grey fleet, as those that have a standard fleet.  It takes the guesswork out of compliance, by asking the user to complete all of the required compliance boxes that the law expects to see ticked.  

“Alerts can advise a manager where evidence or data is missing, if maintenance has not been carried out or if some required element is overdue.  It makes everything more watertight, evidence based and simple.  It also closes liability loopholes. 

“Whilst some employers may feel it better to turn a blind eye to the state and status of its grey fleet, the law will not.  Action has to be taken, if companies wish to remain compliant and avoid prosecution or liability lawsuits. In today’s fleet world, grey is the new black.”

To find out more about the solutions available from HH Driveright, please call 01937 830144 or visit www.hhdriveright.com

[i] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62789079

[ii] https://news.sky.com/story/crash-for-cash-scammers-using-new-tactics-to-cause-road-collisions-bringing-pain-and-strife-to-drivers-12637951

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Editors notes

HH Driveright is an award-winning vehicle security and compliance specialist, with exciting and advanced solutions for van drivers, caravan owners and car drivers wishing to protect their vehicles, livelihood and reputation. It won the 'Keeping Your Show on the Road' award at the 2022 Logistics UK Van Awards and is continually finding ways to achieve that goal, to keep vehicles and their drivers or owners safe and protected.