Imperial Health at Work
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Q&A

Do you have any workers who are expected to drive company vehicles?

Driver medical - DVLA Group 1

Do your employees drive for work on public roads using an ordinary driving licence (DVLA Group 1)? Are you confident they are fit and healthy enough to drive safely and not put themselves or others at risk? Have you told them they shouldn’t be driving when taking medication that might impair their judgement? It has been estimated that up to a third of all road traffic accidents involve someone who’s driving for work, and that these accidents cause over 20 deaths and 250 serious injuries every week. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) believes employers need to do more than simply comply with road traffic law. They advise that health and safety legislation needs to apply to all on-the-road work activities – if we want to keep employees and others safe. With this in mind, many organisations now recognise that their vocational drivers need to undergo regular medicals, similar to those legally required for commercial drivers (DVLA Group 2).

Driver medical - DVLA Group 2

By law, employers need to carry out driver medicals to DVLA Group 2 medical standards for: •drivers of large goods vehicles (LGV) or passenger carrying vehicles (PCV) (usually vehicles in excess of 7.5 tonnes’ laden weight or minibuses with more than eight seats) •new licence applicants who wish to drive 3.5 to 7.5 tonne lorries •some drivers who may not need HSV and PSV licenses, but who still need to meet some or all of these more stringent medical standards, for example, drivers who: •move highly toxic or explosive materials •work in a particularly demanding environment •work at night, or •operate large, heavy vehicles •most emergency police, fireman and ambulance drivers, as well as taxi drivers.