Ask a haulage operator whether they need a driver handbook and risk assessments and you will often get a shrug: “that’s a FORS thing, isn’t it?” It is not. FORS asks for these documents, but the duty behind them comes from health and safety law and from what the Traffic Commissioners and DVSA expect of an operator. A haulier who has never heard of FORS still needs most of this paperwork.
This guide explains who needs what, why, and what each document is for. If you are working towards accreditation, our companion article on FORS driver handbooks, safe systems of work and risk assessments goes deeper on the FORS side.
The short answer
No single law says “every operator must have a driver handbook”. What the law and the regulators do require is that you assess the risks in your business, tell your drivers what they must do, train them, and can prove you did. A handbook, a set of risk assessments and a signed induction record are simply the ordinary way of doing that and showing it.
Risk assessments: the legal duty
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must make a “suitable and sufficient assessment” of the risks to their employees, and to other people affected by their business. Self-employed people must do the same for themselves and for anyone their work affects. The assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to think it is no longer valid or if things change significantly.
If you have five or more employees you must also record the significant findings. With fewer than five you do not have to write it down, but most operators still should: if a driver is injured, an insurer asks questions or an auditor visits, “we did think about it” is much weaker than a dated document.
For haulage, the risks that normally need an assessment include:
- driving, including fatigue, distraction, speed and weather;
- reversing and manoeuvring, on your site and on customers’ sites;
- loading, unloading, load security and sheeting;
- coupling and uncoupling trailers;
- slips, trips and falls, including getting in and out of the cab;
- manual handling;
- tail lifts, forklifts and other equipment;
- lone working and working in yards with moving vehicles; and
- vehicle checks, defects and workshop visits.
Safe systems of work
A risk assessment says what could go wrong. A safe system of work (sometimes called a method statement or SSOW) says, step by step, how a particular job is to be done safely. Drivers cannot follow a risk assessment, but they can follow a short, clear set of steps for coupling a trailer or using a tail lift. Without them you are relying on each driver to work it out for themselves, and an investigator will ask where it was written down.
The health and safety policy
If you have five or more employees, HSE says you must write down your health and safety policy and share it, and any changes to it, with your employees. It should set out your general approach and clearly say who does what, when and how. Smaller businesses are not required to write it down, but a one-page policy is a sensible start.
Telling and training drivers
Employers also have a general duty to give employees the information, instruction, training and supervision they need to work safely. This is where the handbook comes in. It is the document that puts your rules, in plain language, in each driver’s hands.
The DVSA Guide to maintaining roadworthiness is specific about this for drivers. It says drivers must be adequately trained and given clear written instructions about their responsibilities. It expects those responsibilities to be set out in writing, including how to report defects, and for the driver to sign to confirm they have received them, with a copy kept on file. Where English is not a driver’s first language, the operator must provide additional translation or training.
The guide also reminds operators that the driver is always legally responsible for the condition of the vehicle while it is in use, and that drivers can be fined or prosecuted, and can face action from the Traffic Commissioner, if they fail to do an adequate walkaround check. DVSA says the same in its walkaround guidance: the operator and Transport Manager remain accountable, and are expected to provide initial and ongoing training, the right tools, and monitoring. It does not prescribe a form of induction, but a signed, dated record is the easiest way to show it happened.
What operators promise when they hold a licence
When an operator licence is granted, the operator gives undertakings, including that vehicles will be kept fit and serviceable and that the rules on drivers’ hours and tachographs will be followed. You cannot meet those promises through drivers who have never been told the rules. A handbook that explains your daily check routine, defect reporting, drivers’ hours and what to do when something goes wrong is the practical way to show that your drivers know them. See our article on when to VOR a vehicle and how defect reporting should work.
Where FORS fits in
FORS is voluntary, but it is often required by customers and contracts, particularly in construction and public sector work. The FORS Standard expects policies to line up with your risk assessments (requirement M1) and expects operators to communicate procedures through a driver or staff handbook (requirement M5). It uses the same building blocks as the law does: assess the risks, write down the controls and make sure drivers have received them. If you hold the paperwork for the law and DVSA, you are most of the way towards FORS. Not sure whether you need it? See do you need FORS for construction sites? and how to apply for FORS accreditation.
Who needs what
- Every operator with employees: risk assessments, a clear way of telling drivers the rules, and training that you can show.
- Five or more employees: the significant findings of the risk assessments and your health and safety policy must be written down.
- Owner-drivers and sole traders: you still owe a duty to yourself and to others affected by your work, and the assessment requirement applies to you as a self-employed person.
- Restricted and standard licence holders: the same duties apply, plus your licence undertakings on maintenance and drivers’ hours. See our guide to restricted operator licence undertakings.
- FORS or contract-driven operators: everything above, in a form an auditor can check.
A simple driver induction
An induction does not need to be elaborate, but it should be recorded. For a new driver, a sensible minimum is:
- check the licence, CPC and right to work, and record the checks;
- issue the handbook and explain it, with extra support if English is not their first language;
- show them a walkaround check on the vehicle they will actually drive and how to report a defect;
- brief them on the safe systems of work for the tasks they will do;
- explain drivers’ hours, breaks and tachograph rules and what to do if something goes wrong;
- have them sign and date a record, and keep it on their file; and
- review it at least annually and when anything changes.
Why generic documents fail
The documents most often let operators down when they describe someone else’s business: wrong vehicles, wrong sites, procedures nobody follows, no review date, and no proof that drivers ever received them. A shorter set that matches your operation beats a long one copied from elsewhere. Whoever asks to see them, whether HSE, DVSA, a Traffic Commissioner, an insurer, a customer or a FORS auditor, will quickly test them by speaking to a driver.
Where to start
Our FORS documents page has editable packs of 71 risk assessments and 33 safe systems of work, plus a driver handbook, written to be adapted to your own operation. Each pack comes with 12 months of updates. You can download a free sample first. They are useful whether or not you intend to pursue FORS, because the same documents answer what HSE and DVSA expect.
If you already have your own and want an independent view, our fixed-price remote compliance audit reviews the documents you send us and tells you what is in place and what is missing. To see how this fits into your wider obligations, read about our transport compliance support or request a call back.
Important to remember
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Requirements depend on your business, your licence and your contracts, and guidance changes, so check the current versions. HGV Consult is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by FORS, HSE or DVSA. Documents alone do not guarantee compliance or accreditation; they have to be true to how you work and used.
Sources: Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3; HSE, Prepare a health and safety policy; DVSA, Guide to maintaining roadworthiness; DVSA, The walkaround check: a legal duty and safety priority; FORS Standard Version 7.2.