Protecting people and places – improving drivers’ health

Presented by Nicola Jaynes, HM Inspector of Health and Safety, HSE

HSE’s mission is expanding. Protecting People and Places is their recently-launched new ten-year strategy which is designed to maintain focus on traditional risks, but also incorporate new risks such as the introduction of new technologies in the workplace, the growth of the gig economy and the government’s commitment to the net-zero agenda.

The strategy means that employee health is going to receive a lot more attention. This is particularly important where staff who drive for work are concerned. Fatigue, for instance, is thought to contribute to 20% of all road collisions and up to a quarter of fatal and serious collisions. Poor driver management and work scheduling can lead to significant levels of stress leading to cognitive distraction on the road.

Poor driver health can be caused or exacerbated by company actions, and may result in risk to both your drivers and other road users. Nicola’s presentation will tell us what HSE’s improved focus on driver health means for driver safety managers, and what actions would be expected in order to minimise the risk.

About Nicola Jaynes

Nicola has worked for HSE for over 20 years as an Inspector of Health and Safety in areas covering public services, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, asbestos licencing and fairgrounds. She currently works in the Transport and Public Services unit where her work involves the enforcement of statutory standards of health, safety and welfare and providing support to Inspectors and industry stakeholders. Nicola’s portfolio includes being HSE’s lead for work-related road risk, ports and docks, aviation, warehousing, and how these areas will develop with net-zero, autonomy and AI.

Nicola created the new online guidance Driving and Riding Safely for Work, launched in 2021 and which replaced the previous INDG382 guidance. Since 2021, she has been promoting the need for better understanding of work-related road risk and why it is important to manage these risks as a business would any other health and safety risk.