The health and safety of employees is a priority in every business and the Corporate Manslaughter Act has highlighted this even more. Working in an office environment may well be fraught with its own perils such as paper cuts and minor burns from a hot drink. The dangers associated with fleet management on the other hand are much more serious and therefore at the forefront of any fleet managers mind.

Every day there are reports of road traffic accidents which end in either death or serious injury. With more and more vehicles being put on to the roads every year, it is with little wonder that the health and safety of your drivers and the fear of Corporate Manslaughter may give you serious cause for concern.

Of course, there are steps you can take in order to minimise the risk of a Corporate Manslaughter claim. These involve taking both your drivers and the public's health and safety seriously and taking any necessary steps to try to avoid these incidents. So, what steps can we take to help avoid such accidents and Corporate Manslaughter?

It is important to understand the working hours of your drivers. This will help to ensure that you know exactly what hours every driver is supposed to do therefore helping to eliminate the possibility of going over their agreed limit, which could potentially put both you and them at risk.

Monitoring various aspects of your vehicle operators driving style can be a good idea. Vehicle tracking is an advanced GPS tracking package that allows you to do just this by recording the rate of acceleration and braking not to mention the vehicle speed. It can help you to build a safety profile of each driver and allows fleet managers to understand who is driving well and who requires some training.

Vehicle tracking is a good way to help achieve this as it can provide detailed records of each individual driver's movements and helps paint an accurate picture of their driving style. These records can be then kept and in the event of an accident, referred to if the need arises. These records can then be used as part of an investigation process to fully ensure that best practices are met.

Fleet management gives you the opportunity to test any new driver's skills and may be a good idea to ensure that they are competent behind the wheel. Spot checks for all drivers are a good idea too. Using vehicle tracking offers you a way to keep a check of the mileage of each vehicle in your fleet.

You can then set service schedules or even incorporate vehicle diagnostics if necessary that links to the vehicle's computer to allow you to manage the condition and upkeep of each vehicle. Any HR policies and documents should state clearly how important your company takes the health and safety of its employees and the seriousness an accident can cause.

Full training can then be offered to your drivers focusing on how to drive safely and accident avoidance, not to mention how to try to keep control of the vehicle in the event of an accident. A code of practice can be put together that drivers can follow. From this, you can then regularly test their knowledge on these practices.

You should make sure that you check all your employees driving licenses on a regular basis in order to ascertain whether they have incurred any penalty points or have been disqualified from driving. However unlikely, it is better to check to ensure your company's safety.

Utilising all these steps can help to ensure that your company and the general public's safety is upheld. After all, safety is paramount and therefore, putting procedures in place to help achieve this can only be beneficial. Using GPS tracking as part of your fleet management lets you have a better control over your drivers and their vehicles to minimise the chance of an accident. Taking control of your fleet can then help to avoid corporate manslaughter.