Essential Duty of Care: Mobile Phones

Since December 2003 it has been illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. If you are caught using a mobile phone, you risk a fixed penalty of £30, or a fine of up to £1,000, if the case goes to court.

It is also the Government’s intention to raise the fine to £60 and to make it an endorsable offence resulting in 3 penalty points. These changes will be implemented as soon as ‘a suitable legislative opportunity arises’.

It is also an offence to use a mobile phone while supervising a driver who only has a provisional licence.

A hand-held mobile phone is defined as ‘a mobile telephone or other device which is, or must be, held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function’.

A person is ‘driving’ if a vehicle is stationary but the engine is running, or the vehicle is being driven.

As far as employers are concerned, the law includes an offence of ‘causing or permitting’ a driver to use a hand-held phone while driving. This means that employers can be found guilty of an offence if they permit staff who drive for work to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

RoSPA’s view is that the use of mobile phones while driving should be banned completely. The Government appear to accept that using a mobile phone, even with a hands-free kit, distracts the driver and increases the risk of an accident.

Consequently, RoSPA considers that employers would be unwise to simply respond to this new legislation by issuing staff with hands-free kits. Even if the use of a hands-free kit while driving does not contravene the specific legislation covering the use of hand-held mobile phones, employers could fall foul of health and safety laws if an investigation finds that the use of a phone contributed to an accident.

RoSPA recommends that employers introduce a policy along the following lines:

You must not make or receive a call on a mobile phone (whether hands held or hands free) as the driver of a vehicle unless it is parked in a safe place with the engine switched off. No line manager shall require an employee to receive a call on a mobile phone while driving. Contravention of these requirements will be regarded as a serious disciplinary matter.

 

	The Law		Key Points
	Developing Duty of Care		Driver Training
	Car Checks		Speeding
	Private Cars		Mobile Phones
	Risk Assessment		Sources of Information