A fleet policy is the written rulebook the HSE expects every employer with drivers to have. Here is what the document must cover, section by section, and a template you can adapt in an afternoon.
Key Takeaways
- The Health and Safety Executive treats driving for work as a work activity. Any employer with workers who drive, including in their own cars, needs a written fleet or driving-for-work policy.
- The policy is the evidence trail the HSE looks for after a work-related road incident. Without it, "we told the driver" is hard to prove; with it, "we had a system" is documented.
- A usable policy covers nine sections: scope, roles, driver eligibility, vehicle safety, journey planning, incident reporting, grey fleet, records, and review cadence.
- The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 can apply to fatal work-related road collisions. A policy that is written, signed, and actually followed is the single best defence.
- A policy that lives in a drawer is worth nothing. The workable version is short, referenced daily (licence checks, walkarounds, incident forms) and reviewed annually.
If you have staff who drive for work, even once a month in their own car on an expenses claim, UK health and safety law asks you to manage that risk like any other workplace risk. The fleet policy is how you do it on paper.
This guide explains what the law actually requires, walks through the nine sections a usable policy needs, and gives you a drop-in template to adapt for your own business. It is written for the small business with 1 to 30 drivers, but the structure scales up to an O-licence operator with 200 HGVs. Only the detail changes.
For the wider picture on what compliance looks like across DVSA, DVLA, HMRC and the HSE, the fleet compliance for small businesses guide is the broader companion. This post is the policy-writing half of that workload.
Do I actually need a written fleet policy?
Yes, if any of your staff drive on work business. The HSE's guidance on work-related road safety is explicit: driving is a work activity, and the employer must assess the risk and put controls in place. A written policy is the practical way to record those controls, the training you give, the checks you run, and the decisions you have made about journey planning and vehicle safety.
There is no single Act that says "thou shalt have a fleet policy". The obligation is built from Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (the general duty to ensure the health and safety of employees), the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (risk assessment), and the Road Traffic Act 1988 (licensing). Put together, those create a duty to manage work-related driving risk, and the policy is the document that proves you are doing so.
The fines for getting this wrong are not small. Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, if a work driver causes a death on the road and the prosecution can show a "gross breach" of the duty of care by senior management, the organisation can be prosecuted as an entity. Fines in recent years have been set as a percentage of turnover. A written policy that is actually followed is the clearest piece of evidence that the duty was being taken seriously.
The nine sections every UK fleet policy should contain
A usable fleet policy has a recognisable structure. The HSE does not mandate a specific format, but inspectors know what good looks like. Cover these nine sections, in order, and the policy will stand up to a HSE visit, an insurer audit, or an incident investigation.
1. Scope and definitions. Who the policy applies to (employees, contractors, temps, directors), which vehicles it covers (company cars, vans, HGVs, motorcycles, employees' own vehicles when driven for work), and when "driving for work" starts and ends (commuting is not usually in; the journey from one work site to another is).
2. Roles and responsibilities. Named roles, not just job titles. A fleet owner or transport manager. A nominated authorised signatory for licence checks. A named director with board-level accountability. Every other driver's basic responsibility: walkaround check, defect report, incident report, licence disclosure.
3. Driver eligibility and licence checks. Minimum age (insurance-driven, typically 21 for vans and 25 for HGVs unless the policy is written differently), required licence categories, the DVLA Share Driving Licence check process, the frequency of repeat checks, and what happens when a driver accumulates points or receives a ban.
4. Vehicle safety and maintenance. Daily walkaround requirement, the scheduled service cadence, MOT responsibility, tyre and brake standards, defect reporting process, and who holds the vehicle file. The daily walkaround is the load-bearing part; if it is not in the policy, the policy is incomplete.
5. Journey planning and driver hours. Maximum driving time per day, break requirements, night-driving rules, bad-weather protocols, and the authority to refuse a journey on safety grounds. HGV drivers need the full drivers' hours framework reference; van and car drivers need the shorter "tired driving is a risk" section.
6. Incident and near-miss reporting. What to do at the roadside, within 24 hours, and within 7 days of any incident. Who to call, which forms to fill, when insurance is notified. A separate section for near misses (where nothing broke but something nearly did) is the compliance-savvy addition that the HSE positively marks.
7. Grey fleet. Employees using their own vehicle for work. Requires the driver's motor insurance to cover "business use" (not the default), a DVLA check on the driver, a current MOT certificate, and the same incident-reporting duty as company vehicles. Most small businesses underwrite this by omission; the policy is where to close the gap.
8. Training, communication, and records. Induction training for new drivers, refresher training triggers (incident, points, role change), how the policy is communicated (signed copy at induction, annual reminder), and where the records live (filing system, cloud, per-vehicle folder).
9. Review cadence. The policy is not a one-time document. Review at least annually, and whenever there is a relevant incident, a change in law, or a significant change in fleet size or operation. The review date is the last thing on the document and the first thing an auditor checks.
Who owns this policy once it is written?
The policy needs a named owner with real authority, or it stops being a live document the day it is signed. In a small business, that owner is usually a director; in a larger fleet, a dedicated fleet or transport manager. The owner has four jobs, every year, that keep the policy real.
Review it. Annually, on a calendar date that does not move. A 45-minute job that updates any part of the document the business has outgrown.
Communicate it. When a driver joins, they read and sign the current version. When the policy changes, every driver receives the update and acknowledges it.
Audit it. Quarterly, spot-check the evidence trail. Ten random licence-check records. Ten random walkaround logs. Ten recent defect reports. The compliance question is always "are the things the policy requires actually happening".
Defend it. When something goes wrong, the policy and its evidence trail are what get sent to the HSE or to the insurer. The owner is the one answering the questions.
That last point is the reason to put a named individual on the policy rather than a role. When the HSE calls and asks who the responsible person is, "the transport manager" is a worse answer than a name and a phone number.
Drop-in template: the nine-section skeleton
The quickest way to a workable policy is to start from a skeleton and fill in your specifics. Copy the headings below into a document, add your business name and date at the top, and work through each section. Expect the first draft to take an afternoon; expect the real version to take a week because the facts you discover while writing it (who actually checks licences, when the last walkaround happened, whether the grey-fleet drivers have business-use cover) are the most valuable part of the exercise.
[Business name] Driving for Work Policy. Version [X]. Effective [date]. Review date [date + 12 months].
- Purpose and scope. This policy sets out how [business name] manages the health and safety risks of driving and riding for work. It applies to: [list]. It covers: [list of vehicles]. The policy does not apply to commuting.
- Roles and responsibilities. The [named director] is accountable for this policy at board level. The [named manager] owns day-to-day operation. Every driver is responsible for: [five-line checklist].
- Driver eligibility. Minimum requirements: [age, licence category, endorsement thresholds]. Licence checks: at induction, then every [12 months / 6 months for drivers with points]. Process: DVLA Share Driving Licence code. Disclosure obligation: drivers must report any new endorsement, medical condition, or ban within [7 days].
- Vehicle safety. All vehicles used for work receive a daily walkaround check before first use. Defects are reported via [method]. Scheduled servicing follows the manufacturer's schedule, recorded in the vehicle file. MOT responsibility sits with [named role]. Tyres: [reference to tyre law guide, threshold policy at 3mm, inflation to manufacturer loaded spec].
- Journey planning. Maximum [X] hours driving time per day. Minimum 15-minute break every 2 hours. Night driving between [hours] requires [extra rest]. Adverse weather: drivers have unconditional authority to refuse a journey they judge unsafe.
- Incident reporting. At the roadside: secure the scene, call [emergency contact]. Within 24 hours: complete the incident form. Within 7 days: send to [insurance contact]. Near misses reported to [named manager] within 48 hours.
- Grey fleet. Employees using their own vehicle for work must present: (a) a current DVLA check code at induction and annually, (b) a motor policy certificate showing "business use" cover, (c) a current MOT certificate for vehicles over 3 years old, (d) [annual service / roadworthiness declaration]. Mileage claim is the contractual acknowledgement that all four are in place.
- Training and records. Induction covers this policy, the walkaround, the defect form, and the incident form. Refreshers: after any reportable incident, after accumulating 6 points, and every 3 years. Records held: per-driver file and per-vehicle file, retained for [retention period, typically 6 years].
- Review. This policy is reviewed annually by [named owner] or sooner after a reportable incident or a change in law. Next review: [date].
The bottom line
A fleet policy is not paperwork, it is the documented version of how you already want to run the fleet. An afternoon to draft, a week to pressure-test against the real facts, and an owner to keep it current. The reward is an evidence trail that holds up to the HSE, an insurer, and a coroner, in that unlucky order.
If your current answer to "where is the policy?" is a shrug, set aside a morning this week and use the template above. Every later incident is easier to handle when the policy is already in place.
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Sources: HSE: Employers driving and riding safely for work overview · HSE: the law and how it is regulated · HSE: make sure drivers and riders are safe · Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 · Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 · CPS guidance on Corporate Manslaughter