Why work-related driving is a health & safety risk you must manage
If your workers drive for work, the vehicle is a workplace and the HSWA applies. Work-related vehicle incidents are one of the most common causes of work-related death in New Zealand. You must manage the risks — drivers, vehicles, journeys and fatigue — so far as is reasonably practicable.
Yes. A vehicle used for work is a workplace, and driving for work is work — so as a PCBU you must manage the risks of work-related driving, just like any other workplace hazard.
This applies whether the vehicle is a company car, a ute, a truck or a worker's own car used for work, and it applies on public roads, not only on your own site. Your duty is to manage the risks so far as is reasonably practicable. It does not replace the driver's responsibility to follow the road rules — it sits alongside it.
Vehicle incidents are consistently among the most common causes of work-related death in New Zealand.
WorkSafe data for the 2022 calendar year recorded 29 work-related vehicle fatalities, 1,524 incidents, and 2,821 notifiable injuries, illnesses and serious-harm events involving vehicles — along with more than 1,000 injuries that kept a worker off work for over a week. Research consistently finds higher risk among men, older workers and professional drivers. Because much work-related driving happens on public roads, it is easy to treat it as “just driving” — but for health and safety purposes it is work, and the harm is real.
Managing work-related driving comes down to four things: the driver, the vehicle, the journey, and fatigue and distraction.
| Area | What to manage | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Drivers | Competence and fitness to drive. | Correct licence class, training, health, no impairment by drugs, alcohol or fatigue. |
| Vehicles | Roadworthy and fit for the task. | Current WoF or CoF, regular servicing, working safety features, correct loading. |
| Journeys | Safe planning. | Realistic timeframes, sensible routes, weather, planned rest breaks. |
| Fatigue & distraction | Manage hours and focus. | Limits on driving hours, break rules, no phone use while driving. |
A roadworthy fleet means staying on top of warrants, servicing and compliance dates — and being able to show you did.
Across even a small fleet, the dates pile up: Warrant of Fitness (WoF) or Certificate of Fitness (CoF), registration, road user charges (RUC), scheduled servicing and any recalls. Miss one and a vehicle can be unsafe, unlawful to drive, or both — and after an incident, “we forgot” is not a defence. This is exactly where a reminder system earns its keep: it tracks each vehicle's due dates, prompts you before they lapse, and keeps a record that the maintenance happened.
A fleet safety policy doesn't need to be long — it needs to cover the basics and actually be used.
Get vehicle maintenance reminders and fleet records in one place. Book a demo and we'll show you how it works — free 30-day trial included.
Yes. A vehicle used for work is treated as a workplace and driving for work is work, so the HSWA applies. As a PCBU you must manage the risks of work-related driving so far as is reasonably practicable, just as you would any other workplace hazard.
The business (the PCBU) has a duty to manage the risks of work-related driving so far as is reasonably practicable — for example, ensuring drivers are competent, vehicles are roadworthy, and schedules are realistic. This sits alongside, and does not replace, the driver's responsibility to follow the road rules.
Yes. Work-related driving is covered wherever it happens, including on public roads. The fact that a worker is on a public road rather than on your site does not remove your duty to manage the risk.
At a minimum: driver requirements (licences, training, fitness), vehicle standards and pre-use checks, a maintenance schedule with reminders for WoF/CoF, servicing and registration, journey and fatigue rules, a no-handheld-phone rule, and incident reporting.
Use a system that tracks each vehicle's due dates and prompts you before they lapse, and keeps a record that the maintenance was done. NZOHS includes fleet maintenance reminders for exactly this, so nothing slips through and you can prove it.
