The CHAS Vehicle Compliance Standard is a new way for fleet operators to align their fleet safety with their existing health and safety procedures. Standards and accreditations help to improve, benchmark and ensure compliant vehicle operations, and compliant vehicle operations make for safer operations.
CHAS is a leading provider of risk prevention, compliance and supply chain management services. As a co-founder of the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) and the Common Assessment Standard, CHAS helps organisations manage and mitigate risk across a range of business-critical areas such as health and safety, equal opportunities, diversity and environmental management practices.
CHAS product owner Jonathan Mwambingu says: “Feedback from clients and contractors shows there is a demand for a fleet compliance standard to help monitor and mitigate risks within their supply chains. Being able to assess risk management practices is an important part of the procurement process.”
CHAS has worked with National Highways and Driving for Better Business to create the CHAS Vehicle Compliance Scheme, which assesses the compliance and safety of work vehicles or fleet operations across 14 key risk areas covering the driver, the vehicle, record keeping and safe working practices. It enables businesses to demonstrate to clients and stakeholders that they are managing work-related road risk, by ensuring that the vehicles they operate are safe and roadworthy and that their drivers are trained and competent.
Many businesses view their transport operations as a necessary function, rather than a specialized skill. As a result, they may lack a dedicated fleet manager to oversee vehicle operations, leading to potential oversight of crucial safety and legal requirements. These oversights can include driver entitlements, domestic drivers’ hours rules, pre-use checks, regular service intervals, inspections, and overall roadworthiness.
Health and safety are often divorced from essential road risk management, when in fact road risk is a fundamental component of an employer’s duty of care.
To address these challenges, the CHAS Vehicle Compliance Scheme offers an effective assessment framework. Through this, fleets can ensure they operate at the highest legal standards and embrace best practices. This enhances safety and demonstrates a commitment to transport excellence.
