Dear Dr Stuart
We run a transport scheme for vulnerable clients, and we need to ensure that our drivers are fit and healthy to drive.Currently, we ask on the volunteer application form if the person has any health conditions that could affect their ability to drive.
However, the state of a volunteer’s health could change over time, and we’d like some guidance on how to monitor this.What do you recommend?
Dr Stuart replies:
If a person’s health (or medication) presents a risk to their driving, then their GP will explain this to them.By law, the individual must notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they suffer from a medical condition or disability that may affect their driving, or if they develop a new condition or disability, or an existing once becomes worse since their licence was first issued.
Once the driver has notified the DVLA, the Drivers Medical Group within the DVLA will make a decision about the person’s fitness to drive.
Although there is no legal requirement for the person to inform the organisation they are volunteering with that they shouldn’t be driving, it would be good practice for them to do so.We all have a common law ‘duty of care’ to others, and by not passing on this information a volunteer driver:
could put their own life at risk
could put the lives of passengers/ clients at risk
could put other members of the public at risk
In addition to this, if a person didn’t take their GP’s advice to avoid driving for a short period, or if they didn’t notify the DVLA and continued to drive, then this could invalidate their vehicle insurance if they had an accident. Furthermore, failure to notify the DVLA is a criminal offence and is punishable by a fine of up to £1000.
In terms of good practice, there are a number of measures that your organisation can take to help ensure that you’re kept up to date about a person’s fitness to drive as a volunteer.
Firstly, the volunteer application form could ask if potential volunteers have any health problems that could affect their ability to drive.
Secondly, the organisation could make ongoing checks. This could be done either during supervision meetings or reviews, or when the organisation re-checks the driver’s documents (insurance certificate, MOT certificate, road tax, driving licence) for validity.
Another option would be for the organisation to provide refresher training sessions for volunteer drivers, and emphasise the legal requirement to notify the DVLA and the driver’s duty of care to others.This could include giving the volunteer drivers a copy of the “Volunteer Driver’s Handbook”, which was published by Rospa last year.
If you later find out that a volunteer shouldn’t be driving, then you will need to decide how to deal with the situation. One option might be to have a Problem Solving Procedure in place, to ensure that you’re following a fair and equal process if you do need to take such measures in the future.
Further Information
Medical Rules for Drivers - Direct Gov
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/MedicalRulesForDrivers/DG_4022415
Volunteer Driver’s Handbook - Rospa http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/volunteer_drivers.pdf
Volunteering England Good Practice Bank
www.volunteering.org.uk/goodpractice
