Courier firms are “sleepwalking” into a legal nightmare if they’re sending drivers out without protection as thefts and vehicle attacks surge, according to tech firm HH Driveright.
It said failing to fulfil their duty of care requirements in relation to their contracted drivers and employees could leave them exposed to repercussions in the courts.
HH Driveright described the run-up to Christmas from Black Friday as a “danger zone” in which goods and vehicles are most at threat of theft, but for as little as £10 per van per month, they could cover themselves.
Rebecca Hall, HH Driveright MD, said: “Courier firms simply cannot ignore the fact that drivers are now often operating in highly dangerous, high-crime areas in which their vans and goods are defined targets.
“Employers – and those using contracted workers – have a legal duty of care to keep those who are performing services for them as safe as possible.
“We feel it is only a matter of time before we start seeing legal cases in which drivers feel they were not sent out with the right level of protection, particularly when the cost of such protection is so low.”
Hall added: “If a driver’s health and well-being is not worth £10 per month, we have to question why.”
Last month, Warwickshire police urged couriers operating around Nuneaton and Bedworth to take care following two instances of masked males targeting a driver of an unnamed company and unloading parcels from a van into their car after pushing the driver out of the way.
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