Govt plans for more stringent health checks
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THE GOVERNMENT has announced plans to bring in more stringent medical vetting for hgv drivers.
Transport Minister Lynda Chalker has said that lorry drivers are to be brought in to line with psv drivers although there is no clear date for the new requirement to go through the Commons.
The Government plans for hgv drivers to have to pass the usual medical earlier, at 46 years. From then on they must go through the same procedure every five years each time their licences come up for renewal.
At the moment drivers have a medical when they first apply for a hgv licence and then again at 60. Beyond 60 the check is every three years.
The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the changes. Its controller of legal and parliamentary affairs, David Green, said that people realised that the present method of a second medical at the age of 60 was a bit lax although Ile wondered if the decision to bring it right down to 46 was completely necessary.
But he said that there was no reason to view this differently to the standards expected in other industries.
A Department of Transport spokesman told CM that al ready there is tight medical screening for hgv drivers, and the new moves only acted as "a further tightening-up step".
He said that at present out of the 800,000 population of hgv drivers in England, Scotland and Wales only one to two per cent were found unfit to drive.
At present there is no national compensation scheme for drivers who lose their job through being unfit, but some drivers join private policies and some companies insure as a fringe benefit, he said.
The compensation paid out presented a -pretty variable picture" and it was up to the industry to get properly organised, he added.