Driving for Work in Ireland: Employer Duties and HSA Guidance

If your staff drive as part of their job, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 applies to that driving in the same way it applies to any other work activity. That is the position set out in the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) guide Driving for Work: Risk Management Guidance for Employers, produced in July 2025 jointly with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána. This article walks through what the guide says, in plain terms, for Irish employers, including Dublin-based firms with sales, service, delivery or visiting staff.

What counts as driving for work

According to the HSA guide, driving for work covers anyone who drives on public roads as part of their job. That includes vehicles the employer provides and personal vehicles used for work (often called the grey fleet). The guide lists lorries, vans, tractors, taxis, buses, company cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles as examples.

Routine commuting to a fixed workplace is generally not driving for work, and the guide suggests employers define that boundary in their policy. The RSA's driving for work page takes a similar line: commuting is generally excluded, except where a journey starts at home and ends at a work location that is not the person's normal workplace.

The legal starting point: the 2005 Act

The guide refers to several parts of the Act, including sections 19, 20 and 26 and Schedule 3. We also checked the Act on the Law Reform Commission's Revised Acts site (updated to 9 April 2026):

• Section 8 places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of their employees.
• Section 19 requires employers to identify the hazards in the place of work under their control and assess the risks.
• Section 20 requires a written safety statement based on that assessment.
• Section 26 requires employers to consult employees on safety arrangements.

The guide treats the vehicle as a workplace, so the employer must make it safe so far as is reasonably practicable. It also says that complying with road traffic law alone does not satisfy health and safety obligations, and that road traffic law continues to apply separately and is enforced by An Garda Síochána. The guide states that it is not intended as legal advice.

Put driving in your risk assessment and safety statement

The guide's first practical steps are to include driving for work as a hazard in the safety statement, develop a driving for work policy, assess the risks, put controls in place, and monitor and review. Our article on safety statements and risk assessment under the 2005 Act covers the general process; driving simply needs to be one of the hazards on that list.

On the assessment itself, the guide describes identifying hazards, rating risks as high, medium or low, controlling them and reviewing the controls. Its sample approach is that high risks need immediate action, medium risks action as soon as possible, and low risks action as soon as practicable. It also says assessments and the safety statement should be reviewed at least annually or after significant change.

The guide groups the controls using the general principles of prevention in Schedule 3 of the Act. Examples it gives include replacing a journey with audio or video conferencing (elimination), choosing public transport or vehicles with stronger safety features (substitution and engineering), and policies, procedures and training (administrative measures).

A driving for work policy

The guide says a policy should be developed with workers and communicated to everyone affected, including contractors and agency staff. It should cover employer and worker responsibilities, a code of conduct, roles across fleet management, vehicle selection, incident reporting, and training. The guide includes a sample policy, a gap-analysis checklist, a sample risk assessment template and a grey fleet driver declaration as appendices.

Checking drivers

The guide says employers should confirm, at least annually, that each driver holds a valid licence for the vehicle category, valid insurance, and is medically fit to drive. It also suggests formally authorising drivers in writing for each vehicle type and considering experience, driving record and background when selecting them.

For grey fleet, the guide sets out minimums: the worker is formally permitted to drive for work, is legally entitled to drive the vehicle, uses a roadworthy and tax-compliant vehicle with business-use insurance, is medically fit, and is trained on company requirements. It says the worker is responsible for the vehicle's roadworthiness, tax and insurance, but that the employer retains a duty of care. A driver declaration, renewed annually or when the licence or insurance changes, is suggested.

Vehicle checks and fleet management

The guide recommends servicing in line with the manufacturer's manual, pre-use checks (brakes, steering, tyres, lights, indicators, mirrors and leaks), prompt repair of defects by competent persons, and daily walkaround checks. It also discusses vehicle selection, including safety features such as seatbelt reminders, electronic stability control, autonomous emergency braking and lane support.

One small inconsistency is worth knowing about: the main text refers to Euro NCAP five-star vehicles, while the sample policy in Appendix A says four or more stars. Decide which standard you will adopt and state it clearly in your own policy. For commercial vehicles, the guide says owners must keep them roadworthy and periodically inspected.

Journey planning

The guide's journey advice includes consulting workers, setting clear rules, scheduling breaks in advance, using live traffic information, allowing enough time, and using remote communication where it avoids a trip. It advises checking weather forecasts before and during travel, entering sat nav destinations before setting off and changing them only in a safe place, and carrying an emergency kit with a hazard triangle, hi-vis vests, a first aid kit and a torch.

For staff who travel alone, the guide recommends a risk-based approach: knowing their last movements, reliable communication, diary management, a buddy system, and considering GPS tracking or a lone working alarm or app.

Mobile phones and distraction

The guide states it is illegal to access information on a mobile phone while driving, even if the phone is in a cradle. It asks employers to consider a ban on phone use while driving, including hands-free use, and offers two sample options: zero tolerance, or hands-free use only via a dashboard mount, Bluetooth or voice activation, with no earphones. We have not quoted penalty points or fines here; check current road traffic law with the RSA or Citizens Information.

A practical approach: whichever option you choose, write it into the policy, tell managers not to ring staff who are known to be driving, and have drivers sign a declaration.

Fatigue and working hours

The guide calls fatigue a major contributory factor in fatal and serious collisions. It identifies higher-risk times as 2pm to 4pm and 2am to 6am, and after poor sleep, long journeys or night shifts. For employers, it suggests limits on overtime and consecutive shifts, monitoring working hours, adequate staffing, fatigue training, and allowing breaks on long shifts.

It gives a rule of thumb of a 15-minute break every two hours, with more frequent breaks at night or in poor weather, and its sample policy says drivers should stay overnight if driving and non-driving duties exceed 10 hours in a day. Professional bus and truck drivers are subject to separate EU driving time and rest rules (Regulation (EC) 561/2006, as the guide refers to it) and the Driver CPC regulated by the RSA. We have not read those rules ourselves, so check them directly if they apply to you.

Training and information

The guide says training should respond to the risk assessment and to incidents, and cover company and legal driving rules, pre-journey checks, fatigue, adverse conditions, distraction, and what to do after a crash. Our overview of HSA training requirements explains the wider training duties on employers.

Monitoring, incidents and reporting

The guide recommends tracking both proactive indicators (such as audits and checks) and reactive ones (such as collisions and near misses), investigating every collision and near miss, and looking for patterns by time, place, vehicle, driver and work pressure. It also notes that some workers may fear repercussions for raising concerns, so an open reporting culture matters.

On reporting to the HSA, the guide says employers must report, for example, a worker's fatal injury or an injury causing more than three consecutive days' absence (excluding the day of the accident), and refers to a road collision between a worker driving for work and a member of the public driving a car, where that person needs hospital treatment. An HSA information sheet on reporting gives the same three-day threshold. See our guide to accident and dangerous occurrence reporting for the process and deadlines, and check the current rules on the HSA site.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Does the 2005 Act apply to employees driving their own car for work?

The HSA guide says it covers personal vehicles used for work as well as employer-provided ones. For the grey fleet, it says the worker is responsible for roadworthiness, tax and insurance, but the employer retains a duty of care.

Is the daily commute driving for work?

Generally not, according to the HSA guide and the RSA page. Both note exceptions or advise defining the boundary in policy, for example where a journey starts at home and goes to a work location that is not the normal workplace.

Is there a legal maximum number of driving hours for ordinary employees?

The sources we read do not set one for non-professional drivers. The HSA guide gives a rule of thumb (a 15-minute break every two hours) and sample policy limits, and refers professional bus and truck drivers to separate EU rules. Treat these as guidance, not a statutory limit.

Do we have to ban hands-free phone use?

The guide asks employers to consider a ban and offers a zero-tolerance option and a hands-free option as samples. It does not present a ban as a legal requirement. What you choose should follow from your risk assessment.

Where do we start?

The guide's six steps are a good order: understand your duties, add driving to the safety statement, write a policy, assess the risks, put controls in place, and monitor. Consult your workers throughout.

Driving for work is an ordinary part of the safety statement, not a separate regime, and the HSA guide is a practical template to adapt to your own fleet and routes.