Jessica BirdNot-for-profit organisation Driver First Assist (DFA) has warned employers that they could face prosecution for failing to provide adequate first aid training to staff who drive for work.
A national safety campaign has been launched to highlight the growing disparity in workplace health and safety.
The Driving Down Inequality campaign, launched on 3rd June 2025 by not-for-profit organisation Driver First Assist (DFA), calls attention to what it describes as a widespread neglect of millions of professional and grey fleet drivers, who are often excluded from basic incident response training afforded to their colleagues in fixed workplaces.
The initiative is supported by Beverley Bell CBE, former Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain, and aims to address the growing gap between on-site and on-the-road health and safety provision.
It argues that drivers are routinely left without adequate protection, despite the road being the most dangerous workplace in the country.
David Higginbottom, CEO at Driver First Assist, said: “Employers have a legal and moral duty to protect their people, wherever they work.
“If you wouldn’t leave a warehouse or office team without first aid support, why is it considered acceptable for drivers?”
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), one in three road deaths and one in five serious injuries involve someone driving for work.
Its official guidance, ‘Driving and Riding Safely for Work’, clearly states that employers must assess workers’ health and safety capabilities and competence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The campaign warns that many businesses remain unaware of these obligations or lack a system to ensure compliance. Failure to act, it says, exposes organisations to both legal and reputational risk.
DFA’s training course, developed in collaboration with police, fire, and ambulance services, is designed to help employers meet these requirements.
It equips drivers with essential first aid skills, bridging the safety gap created by the mobile nature of their roles.
Beverley Bell CBE said: “Companies have a duty to train their employees and ensure they are competent and safe to carry out their role.
“If you employ drivers, the same applies. Work-related road safety is still not given the same gravitas as on-site safety.
“Given that driving is the highest-risk activity most people do in their job roles, this baffles me.”
Alison Moriarty, managing director and head of compliance at Beverley Bell Consulting and Training, said: “Driving is a work activity – not ensuring your drivers are safe and legal exposes you to the same potential prosecutions as any other health and safety breach.”
The Driving Down Inequality campaign calls for the HSE to issue specific guidance on driver competence and first aid, as well as legal reform to make first response training mandatory for all professional and grey fleet drivers.
National Highways and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are among those already adopting enhanced driver training protocols, with the campaign urging others to follow suit.
Higginbottom added: “We want to see equality in workplace safety. Drivers deserve the same protection and training as anyone else.
“Safer roads start with trained people – and that begins with employers stepping up and leading the way.”
