Transport & Personal Car Use Policy

Transport and Personal Car Use Policy

All employees, NDIS participants, clients, volunteers, funding bodies and any other party undertaking our service and delivering/receiving support must adhere to our Transport and Personal Car Use Policy including:

Title

Use of a Private Motor Vehicle for Transporting Participants

Purpose

The purpose of the Transport and Personal Car Use Policy is intended to provide guidance to all Service Providers, Support Workers, Participants, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders regarding the use of a private motor vehicle for transporting Participants while delivering supports or services on behalf of Rooster Tours Pty Ltd.

Responsibilities

All Service Providers, Support Workers, Participants, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders involved in the transportation of service users in private vehicles are obliged to adhere to this policy.

Rooster Tours Pty Ltd have the responsibility for ensuring adequate safety screening processes are conducted during the on boarding process, to determine a Service Providers, Support Workers, Participants, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders ability to transport. service users.

Background

In the course of delivering a service, a Support Worker may be required, subject to agreement with the Service Provider, to drive their personal motor vehicle. This could include using the Support Worker’s private motor vehicle to transport a Participant in accordance with the service or attending duties required as part of the service without the Participant being present (eg. shopping, collecting medications).

Scope

This guideline applies to all Staff, Service Providers, Support Workers, Participants, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders whereby is has been agreed for a Support Worker to drive their private motor vehicle while delivering supports or services.

This does not include the use of a Support Worker’s private motor vehicle to drive to and from work.

As Participant involvement and service direction has increased it is imperative to involve the Participant in all aspects of the service delivery and the direction of their services to their ability. It is further acknowledged that dignity of risk is an important part of this choice and control.

Disclaimer

This guideline is provided to help guide best practice in the community support and service industry. This information does not in any way replace legislative, regulatory or contractual requirements. Users of this document should seek appropriate expert advice in relation to their circumstances. Rooster Tours Pty Ltd does not accept any liability on the use of this guideline.

Definitions and Supporting Information

Community Supports and/or Services is defined as the provision of paid supports and services in a participant’s home or community. It includes but is not limited to, the following activities of daily living:

clinical supports
community access
gardening and home maintenance
higher risk supports
housework or domestic assistance
medication assistance or administration
personal care or support
respite care
social support
transport assistance

Support Worker is an individual who assists or supervises a Participant to perform tasks of daily living to support and maintain general wellbeing and enable meaningful involvement in social, family and community activities in the person’s home and community. The support worker is a paid person who has access to education, support and advice from the Service Provider line manager or team leader. Support worker has been commonly known as attendant care worker, disability worker, aged care worker, community worker, homecare worker, care worker or paid carer.

Service Providers are organisation or a person who are funded for the delivery of supports and services to Participants Funder is the organisation that is funding the service provision (e.g. Government department).

Participant means the client, consumer or person receiving the nursing or community service or support. As Participant involvement and service direction has increased it is imperative to involve the participant in all aspects of the service delivery and the direction of their services to their ability.

Desired Outcome

To maintain a quality and safe standard of support

To guide when it is appropriate for a support worker to transport a Participant in the Support Worker’s private motor vehicle

Policy

If a Support Worker uses their private motor vehicle while delivering supports or services for a Participant, it is the responsibility of the Support Worker to maintain an appropriate level of motor vehicle insurance. As a minimum, the Support Worker must maintain compulsory third party (CTP) personal injury insurance for their private motor vehicle.

Insurance can be very complex legally. For example, different insurance companies' policies have different rules about when a person is insured while driving their private vehicle for work purposes. It is important that all parties seek advice from an insurance broker or legal adviser to ensure they maintain the appropriate level of insurance cover for their circumstances.

The standard driving rules and regulations in each jurisdiction apply to a Support Worker driving their private motor vehicle while delivering supports or services.

In instances where damage is caused to the Support Worker’s vehicle during the course of delivering services or support, the Support Worker will be liable for any insurance excess or associated costs to repair their vehicle. The exception is when a Participant causes the damage to the support workers vehicle.

If a Service Provider requires that a Support Worker use their private motor vehicle for work purposes, it is the responsibility of the Support Worker to provide the Service Provider with assurance that the Support Worker:

Is duly licensed
Does not have any restrictions on their license
Maintains current car insurance

License and Vehicle Checks

Rooster Tours Pty Ltd has a system in place to ensure that all motor vehicles used to transport clients hold current and valid motor vehicle registration, and that drivers have current licenses. This information is requested when staff members are first inducted into the organisation.

Staff must physically present the following documents to Rooster Tours Pty Ltd upon commencement:

a valid driver’s license
their vehicle registration papers
current insurance papers

In subsequent years, these documents will be reviewed and sighted annually or during a staff appraisal.

Once sighted, details will be recorded in the employee’s file.

Rooster Tours Pty Ltd will also as part of the safety screening process, review National Police Check Certificates for reportable driving offences to ensure staff are fit to transport clients.

Maintenance of Privately-Owned Vehicles

If used for the purpose of transporting Participants, all Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must ensure their vehicle is maintained to a legally roadworthy standard.

Before transporting Participants, vehicles should be inspected to a standard appropriate to an experienced driver of that general type of vehicle. This would include an observant walk around the vehicle to identify any obvious defects in the vehicle that would endanger public safety or would substantially reduce passenger comfort. This includes factors such as cleanliness.

Insurance

At Rooster Tours Pty Ltd, it is preferred that all private vehicles used by Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders to transport Participants have comprehensive insurance, however at a minimum third-party property insurance cover will be accepted (unless stated otherwise by individual funding bodies).

Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must ensure that the insurance policy is current at the time of transporting clients and notify the Coordinator at Rooster Tours Pty Ltd should the insurance coverage change or lapse.

Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must also ensure the insurance policy allows for the vehicle to be used in the course of employment and seek advice from an insurance broker or legal adviser to ensure they maintain the appropriate level of insurance cover for their circumstances.

If a Service Provider, Support Worker, Contractors, Stakeholder and Funder is involved in an accident which subsequently requires an insurance excess payment, the Service Provider, Support Worker, Contractors, Stakeholder and Funder will be required to pay the excess amount in question.

Driver Obligations

Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must:

obey the standard driving rules and regulations in each jurisdiction
maintain a reasonable standard of personal cleanliness and appearance
ensure annual maintenance is undertaken on the vehicle (e.g. regular service) by a qualified person to maintain a roadworthy status
notify Rooster Tours Pty Ltd of any medical condition, license cancellation or other restriction that may affect their ability to transport Participants
strive to keep the vehicle as clean as possible when used for transporting Participants
drive defensively in the interests of public safety
treat Participants with politeness, courtesy, helpfulness and honesty
in situations where a Participant becomes violent or is displaying other serious behaviours of concern, to the extent that personal safety is at risk, the driver must pull over and park at the nearest safe place. A call must then be placed to the Rooster Tours Coordinator for assistance and guidance
take responsibility for traffic offences which occur while transporting Participants due to negligence. This includes speeding tickets and other infringements
take the most direct route to reach the destination. There should be no detours or deviations except in cases where prior approval is sought from the Rooster Tours Pty Ltd Coordinator

OH&S Obligations

Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must not:

drive the motor vehicle, or attempt to put the vehicle in motion, while there is present in his or her blood any concentration of alcohol
consume or use alcohol or a drug that carriers a warning about operating a vehicle, or a substance the consumption or use of which is prohibited by law either during work, or a minimum of 6 hours prior to the commencement of duties
smoke in the motor vehicle
consume food in the vehicle whilst on shift/whilst transporting a client
use a phone or IPAD device at any time while driving

Passenger Safety

Passenger safety is paramount. As such Service Providers, Support Workers, Contractors, Stakeholders and Funders must ensure:

passenger seating limits are not to be exceeded
all passengers wear a seat belt
they make themselves aware of behavior management information and plans for the clients for whom they are providing transport
for clients with behaviours of concern, they be seated as far away from the driver as possible, to avoid interference to the safe driving of the vehicle
clients are not left unsupervised in vehicles at any time
recommended safety procedures are followed (e.g. locked doors whilst travelling, appropriate use of parking brake, use of headlights in poor weather conditions etc.)

Review

This policy will be reviewed at least yearly or as required or prior if there are changes to legislation or policy.

Transport and Personal Car Use Policy

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