It is an employer's responsibility to ensure that the company's vehicles are in a perfect working

condition before they are sent out on the roads. This assurance can be achieved through regular risk

assessments as well as through Health and Safety inspections.

Health and Safety inspections are assessments of the workplaces and work components to determine

their safety to be used. Inspections can form part of the daily routine before operations commence.

Using a simple but clear checklist could help doing the job. Corporate vehicles are also considered being

a 'workplace' and their condition needs to be inspected too. When inspecting the condition of the

vehicle, it is important to assess the quality of the brakes and steering device, climate control in the

cabin, various fluid levels and the condition of the shocks, amongst many others.

Internal Health and Safety inspection alone are not enough to ensure safety of the vehicles. Vehicles

also have to be assessed by the traffic department. This is why employers have to outsource the services

of a skilled professional to conduct a more thorough and comprehensive Health and Safety inspection

which is more than just a quick assessment. This outsourced service must be performed at planned

intervals. Inspections on vehicles should be thorough just like any other inspection, be it on machinery

or on the worksite. Health and Safety professionals will be able to identify the unforeseen hazards and

will ensure that the proper corrective measures are suggested and implemented. Hazards and possible

risks on vehicles may not be immediately visible or obvious and may only resurface when the vehicle is

on the road which makes the input of the driver essential. It is therefore also necessary that the opinion

or assistance of a motor mechanic is outsourced at times to assess if vehicles are roadworthy.

MAKROSAFE has been assisting companies in the logistics industry, and many more, in ensuring their

vehicles are roadworthy, for many years. Their specialists have the expertise to conduct inspections and

even offer inspection bundles at planned assessment intervals. This ensures that when workplaces do

their routine assessment and the road worthiness of the vehicle maintained.

It is essential that vehicles abide by all the rules and requirements of the road, other inspection on

vehicles this must be on their emergency equipment and their effectiveness. These include the

adequacy of Fire and First Aid equipment in vehicles. Fire extinguishers should be fully functional and

serviced regularly and First Aid kits adequately stocked up.

Safety on the road relies on the contributions made by all involved. This includes all drivers, but certainly

also the owners of the vehicles. Employees and drivers should be able to rely on the roadworthiness of

their vehicle, especially this time of the year, when driver fatigue is becoming more evident and obvious.

Employers should make sure that the wear and tear on the vehicle does not attribute to bad situations.

Have your vehicle regularly inspected to abide by the law but also to ensure the safety of your employees.