Traffic Commissioner calls on construction industry to improve licence standards 10 May 2013

The Traffic Commissioner for London and the South East has called on the construction and building industry to improve HGV licence standards after six operators appeared at public inquiry in one month.

Nicholas Denton, the region's independent regulator, issued the reminder about vehicle maintenance and driver safety standards following investigations by VOSA (the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency).

Four of the six businesses faced regulatory action as a result of the inspections.

Romford-based Five Oaks Scaffolding will be suspended from operating for seven days in May, while Active Plant Hire, Lakha Scaffolding and A Whalebone Building Supplies all had their licences reduced.

Reports submitted by the enforcement body revealed a number of shortcomings in vehicle safety standards.

Three of the firms had issues with forward planning of safety checks and all had unsatisfactory driver defect reporting in place. In one instance, drivers were not even carrying out the required checks.

The Traffic Commissioner also heard that MoT pass rates were below the national average, with two of the operators recording multiple failures on the same vehicle.

Prohibitions – including the issue of significant notices for loose wheel nuts and tyre defects – were also a common problem, with one operator having attracted seven in five years on an eight-vehicle fleet.

In addition, the traffic commissioner found two of the businesses had received previous warnings about operator licence compliance, the most recent being in March 2012.

"When applying for a licence, it is the company director or owner who signs the application form. That means they sign up to the licence responsibilities – to ensure drivers' hours rules are observed, to keep vehicles fit and serviceable, to make sure drivers report defects promptly and to keep maintenance and repair records," says Denton.

"It is not acceptable for a director or owner to delegate control over these functions to someone else and then simply assume that everything is being done properly, without ever checking that this is so. This does appear to be a particular risk in businesses whose primary purpose is something other than transport," he continues.

"In the construction sector, operating large vehicles is a necessary consequence of the main activity, whether that is erecting scaffolding, selling building supplies or hiring plant machinery. But they are still heavy goods vehicles. The need to carry out safety checks still applies."

And he adds: "I am constantly amazed by the fact that people in the construction industry who are very careful about adhering to health and safety standards when on construction sites or up on scaffolding, seem to throw all that care out of the window the instant they leave the site. They leap into a goods vehicle and drive off without bothering to check properly for defects. Operating the goods vehicle should be treated with the same reverence towards safety as is given to work on the building site."

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Department for Transport

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