Top tips from Licence Bureau
Licence Bureau has issued its top tips for fleet operators employing non-GB licence holders, with awareness and systematic processing being the foundations to effective management.
According to the Licence Bureau, fleet operators should be focused on ensuring they fully understand non-GB licence holders’ status and follow a systematic process of determining all necessary information prior to employment.
The warning follows a previous survey by Licence Bureau of 500,000 company drivers which highlighted that 5.3 drivers in every thousand present companies with a major compliance risk when their licence was checked.
It found that 2,650 company vehicle drivers out of the 500,000 had major issues with their licence with foreign drivers accounting for eight per cent which can cause additional complexity around their eligibility to drive in the UK.
It has issued the following tips: ensure all drivers are aware of your fleet policy and the obligations placed on them; introduce a familiarisation course as a minimum requirement prior to any non-GB licence holder; ensure your processes and systems generate auto alerts and emails for non-GB holders; work in partnership with a compliance provider that offers a rigorous licence checking process; request that the driver exchanges for a GB licence.
Richard Turner, business development manager at Licence Bureau, said, ‘By law, companies have a duty of care to manage occupational road risk, ensuring a robust process and procedure is in place allows for periodical automatic checks of driver licences and assists with the identification and management of any risk identified.’
For more information and to understand the entitlement of non-GB licence holders visit: https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence
