legal scales of justice

The FTA is calling for a major increase in roadside checks on vans to raise standards in the sector.

The call follows a court case this week which found welding contractor Renown Consultants guilty of failing to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, following a deadly accident caused by a fatigued van driver.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Zac Payne, 20, and Michael Morris, 48, died in a crash at around 5.30am on 19 June 2013 when Payne fell asleep at the wheel of a company van while driving back to Renown’s Doncaster depot after a night shift in Stevenage.

The van veered off the motorway, crashing into a parked vehicle and killing both the driver and the passenger.

Payne had been driving and working since 4.30am the previous day. He was supposed to finish for the day in the evening, but took an additional overnight welding job.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) told the court that Payne, who like his colleague was employed on a zero-hours contract, was suffering the effects of fatigue and may have fallen asleep at the wheel or experienced 'microsleeps,' which hugely increased the risk of a traffic accident.

The court heard that as Payne was only 20 he should not have been driving as the company's fleet insurance policy stipulated a minimum age of 25.

Since both men were on zero hours contracts and reliant on Renown for securing welding qualifications, ORR said this created an incentive to accept any work that was offered.

James Firth, head of FTA licensing policy, called for greater government funding for DVSA to boost the number of roadside inspections of vans and measures to encourage van fleets to record driver hours.

He said: “We need greater roadside enforcement of vans. Currently the DVSA receives around £2.5m of funding for the roadside enforcement of light commercial vehicles which number around 4 millon, compared to a pot of £40m for the roadside enforcement of 800,000 HGVs.

“Whilst HGVs are much more complex and an HGV failure can have far worse consequences than a van failure, nevertheless there is still an imbalance in the funding that needs to be addressed.”

Firth added that FTA would also like to see government give its backing for van fleets to use apps to record drivers’ hours in a move which he said could pave the way for a legal requirement to record van driver hours. Under current legislation there is no legal requirement for companies to keep records of van driver hours.

The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) said the case was the first prosecution for van driver fatigue.

Describing the case as “very worrying”, Paul Hollick AFP co-chair said: “There was a complete breakdown of fleet management health and safety. The driver had been at work for more than 24 hours, creating a hugely risky situation that should never have occurred."

Ian Prosser, chief inspector of railways said: "Fatigue is a real and known risk which reduces alertness and affects performance. Today's tragic case shows the fatal consequences that can occur when fatigue policies are disregarded. Safety comes first and ORR will continue to monitor and take action where companies do not take sufficient care to ensure their workforce is not too tired to work."

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