Driving at Work

Key Messages

• • NHS Lothian, as an organisation, has a duty under health and safety law to ensure the risks to staff from driving at work on its behalf are minimised and controlled as far as is reasonably practicable.
  • NHS Lothian has a duty to ensure that anyone who drives on NHS Lothian business does so in a manner that promotes the principles of safe driving and, where required, are suitably trained to do so.
  • Any employee driving at work is required to fully cooperate with the implementation of the Driving at Work Policy.
  • A risk assessment must be carried out where hazards associated with driving at work are identified and appropriate control measures assessed and implemented.
  • NHS Lothian requires that staff driving at work must never make outgoing or answer incoming calls, send or read texts or emails or otherwise use a mobile phone while driving, except to make an emergency 999 call and it is unsafe and impractical to stop to do so.
  • In the event of an NHS Lothian or a media source notification/alert of adverse weather, a decision should be made by the respective management teams in conjunction with staff members as soon as practicable as to whether driving at work takes place or not.
  • Staff must inform their line manager about any changes in the status of their licence or their health that could affect their continued driving.
  • The policy should be read in conjunction with the Guidance on the Management and Use of Vehicles within NHS Lothian 2016.