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Worker can sue his employer despite falling asleep at the wheel

27th April 2007

A firm that encouraged its employees to work for long hours has been found liable for a road accident that left one of its employees paralysed. Michael Eyres was flung from his van after falling asleep at the wheel and can now sue the company where he worked as a kitchen fitter for damages expected to exceed £1million.

The award is to be reduced due to his own contributory negligence, as he was not wearing a seat belt and was aware of his own physical state after working 19 hours. However, Lord Justice Ward, who gave the ruling at the Court of Appeal recently, said that Mr Eyres was "in that predicament because his employers had put him there".

The case sends a warning to employers that cause or permit their employees to work excessively long hours and drive at times they are likely to be tired, could be liable if that tiredness leads to an accident.

After the verdict, Eyre's solicitor Daniel Herman, a Partner at Stewarts Solicitors in Leeds, said the case has serious ramifications for employers who hire van drivers.

He said: "What this case shows is that employers who cause or permit their employees to work very long hours and drive at times when they are likely to be very tired could be liable if that tiredness leads to an accident.

"It has been accepted for decades that it is not safe to allow, for example, a factory employee to use machinery for hours at a time because of the risk of injury.

"Driving is also a potentially dangerous activity and employers need to take reasonable steps to ensure that their employees are safe.”

He said the number of hours that HGV drivers can work is tightly controlled but there are no similar statutory rules for the thousands of van or car drivers up and down the country.

Writing in Workplace Law Network’s Driving at work 2007: Law and Practice Special Report, Jeremy Hay and John Maslen comment: “Checks should be put in place by management to make sure that hours worked / spent driving are ‘reasonable’ for all staff, and that drivers are definitely not working / driving for excessive periods on successive days.”

When it comes to working time they suggest the following points are considered:

• Are your schedules realistic?

• Do journey times take account of road types and condition and allow for rest breaks?

• Does company policy put drivers under pressure and encourage them to take unnecessary risk, e.g. to exceed safe speeds because of arrival times?

• Can a driver make an overnight stay, rather than having to complete a long road journey at the end of a working day?

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