Driver Fitness Standards

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  • Ensure that your drivers are mentally and physically fit to drive using a process of self-declaration. Set minimum "fitness to drive" standards and have procedures in place to ensure that these are met.
  • Minimum standards for fitness to drive can be drawn up using the DVLA practitioners' guide to the current medical standards of fitness to drive (downloadable free of charge on the DVLA's website).
  • Advise drivers that they must notify management if they have disabilities or conditions that could prevent them from driving safely.
  • Although regular health checks are only a legal requirement for LGV (Large Goods Vehicles) or PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicles) drivers, all employees should have pre-employment medicals to check eyesight and relevant aspects of physical and mental health.
  • Appropriate health surveillance should continue beyond recruitment (minimum follow-up every five years unless age or condition dictates otherwise).

Eyesight

  • Staff who drive should take an eyesight test every two years or when they suspect they have a problem (whichever is sooner).
  • Eye tests should be carried out by qualified optometrists, and should include a test of the driver's horizontal and vertical range of vision.
  • All staff who will drive should have an eyesight test prior to recruitment.
  • Medical conditions that can affect vision include glaucoma, diabetes, a stroke, heart disease and diplopia.