Road Safety Legal Responsibilities

Any vehicle used for work in BC is a workplace. This includes company vehicles as well as employee-owned vehicles. Employers are legally responsible for ensuring the safety of:

• Your employees whenever they are driving for work purposes
• Your employees who are passengers in vehicles being used for work
• Contractors and employees of other companies who are passengers in vehicles being used for work

“Driver” doesn’t have to be part of a job title for an employee to be considered a work driver. Delivery, courier, and transit drivers are obvious examples of work drivers. Less obvious examples include landscapers and home health care workers. They spend time driving between job sites and clients. Even office workers can be work drivers when they run errands for their employer.

The more time drivers spend on the road, the more they are at risk.

Work-related driving is any driving an employee does in the course of their employment. The driving can be for a few minutes, once a week, or full time, and everything in between. It doesn’t matter whether they use a company vehicle or a personal one.

Commuting from home to the primary work location, such as an office, generally isn’t considered work-related driving. There are, however, some exceptions.

One example would be a supervisor who regularly drives a company-owned vehicle from home to a construction site and is required to communicate with their employees during the trips. They may pull over to make and take calls. The supervisor is technically working.

Another example would be workers who usually commute to their office but occasionally drive to a client’s location for a work meeting. That drive is considered work-related driving.

When employees drive their own vehicles for work you’re still responsible for their safety. The vehicle can be owned, leased, rented, or borrowed by the employee.

Have the same rules and expectations for employee safety regardless of who owns the vehicle.

In addition, regularly ask employees for records showing that their personal vehicle is appropriately insured, inspected, and maintained.

See our Keeping Employees Safe When Driving Personal Vehicles webinar for more information on safety compliance.

Employers, supervisors, and employees all have roles in health and safety. Cooperatively sharing responsibilities gives everyone a stake in road safety and contributes to safer workplaces.

For example, an employer may direct a supervisor to make sure drivers have the skills and training they need to safely drive for work. The supervisor needs to understand the driving employees do, find out what driving skills employees have, and take steps to provide the training they need. Employees then have a responsibility to complete the training and develop and apply necessary driving skills. The employer remains accountable for making sure those things are done.

Employers have safety responsibilities when any vehicle is used to move groups of workers. This applies whether it is owned by the company or is an employee’s personal vehicle.

A worker transportation vehicle is any motor vehicle an employer provides or arranges to move 3 or more workers to or from a workplace. This include non-commercial vehicles such as cars, pickups, vans, and SUVs.

Employers need to take specific steps before the vehicle is used. These include:

• Ensuring a qualified person inspects the vehicle before each shift
• Fixing any safety-related defects
• Assessing road, weather, and traffic conditions

The following practices can help keep your employees safe and fulfill your road safety responsibilities:

• Check employee driver’s licence and driving abstract (record).
• Do regular road safety risk assessments. Ask employees to help you identify hazards and assess the risks they create. Then educate your employees about how to eliminate or reduce the risks.
• Build and implement a road safety plan that addresses the driving-related risks your employees encounter. Include policies, procedures, and practices that effectively minimize exposure to hazards and reduce associated risks.
• Conduct regular work vehicle inspections and maintenance. Fix problems reported by your employees.
• Investigate vehicle crashes and near misses.
• Ensure your employees know their health and safety rights and responsibilities.

For more tips on compliance, review our Employer’s Occupational Road Safety Responsibilities Guide (PDF).

The following practices can help keep your employees safe and fulfill your road safety responsibilities:

• Know who’s driving. Talk to your team to understand how often they drive and under what conditions. Make sure they understand the hazards and how to manage them.
• Train employees to follow your organization’s safe driving procedures.
• Set clear expectations. Remind employees that safely driving for work is part of the job.
• Do spot checks. Make sure employees are inspecting vehicles before use and that problems are addressed promptly. Do ride-along assessments to observe their driving skills.
• Respond to crashes or concerns. Support incident investigations and follow your reporting procedures. Encourage employees to speak up about vehicle issues or other risks.

Download our Supervisor’s Occupational Road Safety Responsibilities Guide (PDF) for additional tips.

When you use your own vehicle, you have some additional responsibilities. These include:

• Ensuring the vehicle is appropriately registered, insured, operated, and maintained
• Keeping records of insurance, inspection, and maintenance and providing them to your employer when asked

The vehicle is considered yours if you own or lease it and are named on the registration and insurance, or if you have borrowed it. You’re responsible for any traffic violations that occur when you’re driving your own vehicle.

Following best practices, driving laws, and your organization’s road safety policies can help you fulfill your obligations. We recommend you review our Employee’s Occupational Road Safety Responsibilities Guide (PDF) and do the following:

• Report unsafe or harmful conditions such as unsafe vehicles, poor road conditions, risky driving behaviours, etc.
• Always focus on driving. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted. Don’t call or text while at the wheel, even at red lights.
• Avoid high-risk driving (speeding, tailgating, etc.).
• Inspect the vehicle before the start of each shift. Report any issues to your supervisor or employer.
• Make any adjustments, such as shifting your seat or mirrors, before the vehicle is used.
• Keep the vehicle free of anything that could interfere with driving, such as a loose water bottle.
• Keep records of inspections, maintenance, and repairs if you use your personal vehicle for work.

These requirements apply to owners and operators of commercial vehicles that are designed to carry a load such as goods, freight, people, etc. Vehicles include:

• Ambulances
• Buses
• Fire trucks
• Hearses
• Taxis, limousines
• Tow trucks
• Trucks with an attached delivery body
• Truck and trailer combinations
• Some road-building machines
• Some pickups and vans

Review the Commercial Transport Procedures Manual, related bulletins, and circulars for information on meeting these responsibilities.

This Act and its associated regulations apply to owners and operators of commercial passenger vehicles such as taxis, limousines, and some buses. They also govern operations of vehicles used for ride-hailing services.

Review the rules, regulations, and licensing of commercial passenger transportation in BC for information on meeting these responsibilities.

The provincial Industrial Roads Act and Regulations apply to owners and drivers when vehicles travel roads constructed on certain Crown or private lands. If the roads are used primarily for transporting natural resources, machinery, materials, or personnel, the laws apply.

The Act deals with administrative and road maintenance matters, as well as driver licensing and vehicle maintenance when operating on industrial roads. The Regulations explain requirements around vehicle inspections, record keeping, reporting unsafe conditions, maintenance, lights, and driver licensing.

The Canada Labour Code applies to employers with operations crossing one or more provincial boundaries. Federally-regulated employers include:

• Airlines
• Broadcasting
• Chartered banks
• International shipping
• Interprovincial pipeline, rail, trucking
• Military
• Postal service
• RCMP
• Telecommunications

Many of the requirements in the Code are similar to those in the Workers Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. They describe employer responsibilities to ensure employee health and safety. They also cover hazard identification, training, supervision, personal protective equipment, first aid, investigations, and other matters. The Code states that vehicles used for work must meet prescribed ergonomic standards.

Federal and provincial laws apply when transporting dangerous goods in commercial or personal vehicles in BC.

The federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Regulations describe requirements for transporting substances or materials that are dangerous to life, health, property, or the environment. This includes substances that are explosive, flammable, combustible or poisonous, compressed gases, nuclear substances, or organisms.

The BC Transport of Dangerous Goods Act applies when transporting any product, substance, or organism listed in the provincial Regulation.

Review responsibilities for transporting dangerous goods.

The federal Criminal Code has potential implications for employers and supervisors.

Section 217.1 explains that any person who has the authority to direct how someone does their work has a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent any resulting bodily harm. Other sections address the criminal liability organizations and their representatives may have for negligence and other offences.