ING CAR Lease is targeting fleets which contract hire or run private vehicles for business with its new risk management service.

The Risk Assist service is tailored to individual fleets and will review the company’s current fleet policy including risk assessment, driver training and driver management.

When the review has been completed, ING Car Lease identifies any problems with the fleet’s current practice and offers a strategy to remedy them.

Ian Tilbrook, managing director at ING Car Lease, said: ‘It is vital that companies who have not already taken full responsibility for the overall area of driver risk management do so now, as legislative changes concerning duty of care are on the Government’s short-term agenda.

‘As soon as employees become responsible for the maintenance and management of their own vehicles, health and safety control becomes increasingly difficult to achieve.’

Employees at all levels of an organisation are covered by Risk Assist and, following the review, ING Car Lease will continue with regular reviews to combat any further problems which arise. Tilbrook said: ‘The question organisations must ask themselves is whether they can really afford to ignore these concerns any longer.

‘The implications of not acting clearly outweigh the costs associated with dealing with the issues head on.’

Fleets introducing a risk assessment strategy will benefit from fewer accidents and reduced vehicle repair costs, downtime and personal injury claims, according to Tilbrook.

Legally, fleets which have a risk policy will also be able to provide and audit trail and health and safety details in the event of an accident.