24 hours per day, 365 days per year rescue and recovery vehicles are attending incidents up and down the busy roads of the UK.  With all eyes currently focused on rising fuel prices, rescue and recovery operators may be failing to see the importance of the conspicuity of the vehicles they are using for recovery.  Since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 was introduced in April 2008 things will have to change for rescue and recovery operators in terms of the safety of their vehicles including the conspicuity, because it is the fleet managers and  procurement departments that will now be responsible if there is a fatality involving a rescue and recovery vehicle(s).

 

According to national law firm Lyons Davidson: “The use of reflective materials goes to the heart of health and safety, their very design is to afford protection to any individual coming into contact with them in a hazardous environment.”  Further highlighting what difference the new manslaughter act will have on vehicle livery including rescue and recovery vehicles Lyons Davidson comment: “It can accordingly be seen that during the procurement process, an organisation must give due regards to a number of issues connected with the selection and eventual usage of reflective materials.  In the event of an accident where vehicle conspicuity is determined to be a factor, the organisation will have to produce to the investigating authority, whether that is the Police or HSE, an audit trail evidencing the process adopted for selection and purchase of those reflective materials.”

 

Accidents increase when wet weather is upon us and this year’s summer has seen many more incidents than rescue and recovery operators had bargained for.  The first line response to a breakdown is inevitably the rescue and recovery vehicle, which will have to attend a recovery whatever the weather conditions.  It is in these conditions; when visibility is poor that potentially life-threatening situations can occur, and should anything awful like this happen whilst a rescue and recovery vehicle is attending the scene, it is the view of Lyons Davidson that there is a risk of an enquiry into the reflective materials used.

Increased traffic on the roads means that more than ever there is a greater demand for rescue and recovery vehicles to be clearly visible at distance and therefore safe whilst they are out on the roads recovering vehicles in very hazardous, stationary situations. With the right livery, such as Reflexite’s prismatic livery film, rescue and recovery vehicles can reduce the risk of accidents when their services are in use, as well as protecting members of the public who may also need secure assistance.  As Lyons Davidson go on to say “An organisation can be guilty of an offence if a fatality occurs to an employee, member of the public or any individual to whom the organisation owes a duty of care where it can be demonstrated that there has been a breach of that duty.”

 

Rescue and recovery operators have to consider many things when specifying which livery film to use on vehicles and the message is clear to rescue and recovery operators to make sure their fleets are kitted out with the latest, most technologically advanced livery film available.  As well as conforming to the specifications it is also vital that the fleet manager feels confident that the livery is not only safe but also is easy to manage from an operations point of view and that there is at the very least a comprehensive warranty with the film.

 

For further information on Reflexite reflective materials please call Richard Coates on 07841 234098

 

19/12/08