Any organisation with a mobile workforce must follow rules and regulations around employee safety. While it's a huge responsibility to oversee a mobile workforce, you can confidently manage risk by thinking about and tightening up compliance in every single part of your fleet.

This applies especially to grey fleets. As a PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking), if part of your company's fleet can be described as 'grey', your company must still safeguard employees who drive those vehicles, pursuant to New Zealand's Health & Safety at Work Act.

Here, we'll discuss what grey fleets are, as well as your legal obligations for ensuring compliance and protecting your company's employees under HSWA regulations. Once you understand the liabilities and potential safety pitfalls, keeping your company in the clear will become that much easier.

What is a grey fleet?

A 'grey fleet' consists of vehicles that employees personally own and officially use, either by permission or requirement, in the context of work. When used in this way, those vehicles are considered to be workplaces under the HSWA.

It's crucial for organisations to recognise the legal issues surrounding grey fleets, as managing them requires as much attention and vigilance as with a company's own vehicles.

Legal complications of grey fleets

Just as with regular fleets, companies using grey fleets have a legal duty of care to the employees who drive the vehicles. However, in the case of a grey fleet accident without proper oversight, employers can quickly find themselves in serious legal entanglements.

For example, if an employee is injured in a car crash while using a personally-owned car for work, the employer might be held responsible for any number of reasons:

• Failure to share the corporate fleet policy, including safe driving guidelines, with that employee
• Not reviewing the driver's licence or past traffic offences
• Not applying the company's regular accountability standards to the driver, as specified by company fleet policy
• Not having official records of the vehicle's condition, or even its existence
  
  

Proper fleet risk management can help you get ahead of such issues before they present problems. But if found to be negligent for any of the above reasons, the business could face prosecution as a result. 

Employer obligations to grey fleet vehicles and drivers

Employers have a great deal of responsibility in managing grey fleet vehicles, and they should feature just as prominently as your in-house fleet in your fleet risk management strategy.

Practically, it means seeing that each vehicle has a warrant of fitness (WoF), is properly insured for work usage, is roadworthy, and is never loaded beyond its capacity (for example, by hauling trailers of weights that exceed the towing capacity, or carrying a too-heavy cargo load). To effectively manage risk, companies must retain visibility of vehicle condition at all times.

Employer responsibility, of course, extends to the drivers of the grey fleet as well. That means making sure employees fill out their log sheets accurately, are properly trained to drive, have the correct gear (for example, high-visibility clothing if warranted), and have enough time to get to their destinations safely and without pressure.

Employers must also ensure that drivers:

• Are licensed to operate the type of vehicle they're using (this can be checked using the NZTA's Driver Check website, or Transport Operator Register Online (TORO), which requires written employee consent)
• Are trained and skilled in defensive driving techniques
• Do not have a medical condition or injury that can interfere with safe driving (or, that they have a medical certificate for driving and are obeying restrictions)
• Are not fatigued while driving for work
• Are observing the company's policies on drugs and alcohol
  
  

Having oversight of grey fleet drivers, and securing their cooperation with company rules, goes a long way towards meeting your legal Health and Safety obligations. But because you can never prevent all accidents, only minimise them, working with a premium fleet risk management service - especially one that helps coordinate 24/7 roadside assistance for drivers - is an excellent measure to take.

While it can take some time to instil the seriousness of grey fleet management within your company culture, it's worth the effort.

As a PCBU, protecting the employees and vehicles of your grey fleet is just as essential as protecting the regular mobile workforce. Don't get caught out - by adopting this perspective and ensuring full compliance with HSWA rules, you'll effectively lower your organisation's fleet risk across the board.