Y ou've hired your new driver from an agency You assume
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his licence has beer checked and his references have been approved, so its on with the job. That's what one Northampton-based haulier thought when it took on a driver for a major contract. The driver has since been jailed for three-and-a-half years for helping to steal goods worth £400,000. In addition, the haulier was forced to lay off 120 workers when it lost the contract following the theft. The agency that supplied the driver had hired him on the basis of a forged licence and false references.
Is this a costly mistake that your company would never make? Or are you trusting the word of the driver every time you take someone on?
Pragmatic approach
Mel Weller, owner of Axtra Transport in East Sussex takes a pragmatic approach to recruiting drivers that is typical of many small operators.
At the interview stage we have an application form that asks for details of any criminal convictions," he says. "After that we pretty much take their word for it, but we do check references with their previous employers. Obviously, if we discover the person has a driving ban or a drinkdrive offence, we couldn't accept that, as it would null-and-void our insurance."
A spokesman for Aberdeen-based haulage firm Ashley Industries says they don't take much notice of references as most of the drivers they take on are already known to them.
."-Wheh we employ someone we just take.a,coPy of their licence and take their Word-fOr it," he adds. 'No references are
eked. This is mainly because our dri vers are all employed locally and are usually known to us from other haulage businesses. However, if someone from London came looking for ajob, for example, I would probably do further checks."
So how can you thoroughly check out a driver's background? For the most part, you can generally tell if a person is up-front and honest at the interview stage. Provided he produces his licence and gives permission for you to check it out, you're likely to feel assured that he has nothing to hide.
But do you know how to 'read' a licence correctly? The applicant might, for example, have a DR10 (drink-drive offence) outstanding, or a lapsed SP10 (speed offence) waiting to be taken off. Could you spot this? And how do you know that the person named on the licence is the one you're employing?
With photo ID licences only coming into force 411998, many drivers still have card licences. So do you know where to go to make checks?
The Traffic Commissioners don't formally vet licences, so your first port of call should be DVLA in Swansea. Its Data Subject department can supply a list of convictions and their meanings, enabling you to check out someone's licence (see panel, opposite). However, you still need written permission to do this. Ilya' don't get this, or if you're stalled, the alarm bells should definitely be ringing.
When it comes to other criminal con
victims, with the Data Protection act in force, you cannot check that anyone has a record if he doesn't first volunteer the information to you on an application form. And even then, there is no real way of verifying what he has said.
Occupations
Although the Home Office's new Criminal Records Bureau goes live this summer, its Disclosure Scheme is only designed to monitor those working with vulnerable people, such as children and the infirm, and there are no plans to expand it to cover other occupations.
Many of the checks you should carry out are simply common sense, but having a standard procedure in place can help to ensure that nothing goes awry.
Chris Carlton, company liaison and health and safety manager for James
Ham 8e, Sons, the well known general haulage, storage and distribution operator, takes the business of recruitment very seriously: "First of all we'd look at the licence and check for any relevant convictions printed on it. It is possible to check the offence and any punishment or fine incurred,
lit is a photo licence I also check that the ID on the licence matches the person,' he adds. We also check that the licence is in date for the specific type of vehicle that will be driven.
"After filling in an initial application form, at the interview stage we can generally ascertain whether the applicant is open and honest by the way they answer questions. By talking and general discussion you tend to get a clear view of what
wilivkind of person they are. if there are any .. ... .zanomalies I would usually check up to two
previous references by telephone."
Cat on spent six months setting up a comprehensive induction programme for all James Irlam's recruits; this includes extensive driving tests conducted by driving instructors.
When someone is actually taken on we take a copy of their licence and it is then audited every six months," he explains. If we discover that they have failed to disclose anything, they are obviously wide open for dismissal."
Implications
Owen Thomas, head of road freight policy at the FTA, also warns owners that there are 0-licence implications when it comes to vetting drivers.
"It's incumbent on vehicle operators to check the relevant details of their drivers," he says. "Also, of course, all drivers should be bona fide, otherwise there could be serious insurance problems."
The bottom line is that individual operators must watch out for any discrepancies with regard to their drivers. The Traffic Commissioner's office for the South East and Metropolitan Traffic Area suggests that all owners should be asking to see their drivers' licences to check for new convictions at regular intervals.
But, of course, not everyone is squeaky clean and people can change. Some potential employees might have a conviction for something petty that they did years ago and yet you may decide to put your trust in them.