Why Vehicle and Self Checks?

This toolbox session is designed for all drivers, including professional and grey fleet drivers, as they all fall under health and safety and the corporate manslaughter legislation. Through group work and discussion, the driver will understand the need for these vehicle and self-checks to be completed with the benefits in vehicle safety for both the driver and business.

Description

Carrying out daily vehicle checks provides reassurance that your vehicles are road safety compliant and that both your drivers and other road users are safe. With the help of your drivers, you should be able to create an efficient system to complete the vehicle and driver checks. Remember, the driver is just as important as the vehicle.

The first step to completing vehicle checks is to know exactly what vehicle checks you need to complete and understanding what to look out for. Vehicle checks take place both inside and outside the vehicle and the length of time to complete the checks depend on the type of vehicle.

Regardless of the time required, checking a vehicle daily is a requirement and through group work and discussion the driver will understand the need for these vehicle checks. These checks ensure that the vehicle load is safely secured and remains in good condition.

The price of correcting unexpected vehicle failures is always higher than the cost of preventing that failure in the first place.

Well maintained vehicles give both drivers and businesses the following benefits:

• improved driver safety;
• safer driver working environment (workplace);
• safe driving in rain;
• less collisions;
• fewer injuries to the driver, passengers and other road users;
• are more reliable giving less downtime;
• better fuel efficiency mean cheaper to run;
• more reliable customer service; and
• longer vehicle life span with better residual value.