Risk Management for DVSA Approved Driving Instructors

Risk Management

An Approved Driving Instructor is expected to be able to manage risk to a learner and third parties.

This unit is about actively managing the risks that can arise while delivering driver/rider training and ensuring, as far as is within your control, the health and safety of all involved. This unit contains three elements Element 6.4.1 – Manage the on-road environment to minimise risk Element 6.4.2 – Manage the risk of violence in the learning environment Element 6.4.3 – Manage health and safety in the classroom environment Who this unit is for This unit is for people who train learner driver/riders of all vehicles.
Driver/rider This includes drivers or riders of all vehicles Learner This term can indicate novices, partly trained, trained or experienced driver/riders including those who may be adding a licence category. Classroom An enclosed learning space in which formal training is regularly delivered.

National standard for driver and rider training Manage risk to instructor, learner and third parties.
Manage the on-road environment to minimise risk. This element addresses those risks that can arise in an on-road training session. It assumes that learners will always be expected to take their share of responsibility for the management of risk, while recognising that their competence to take that responsibility will change over the period of their training. It also recognises that correctly understanding the nature of the risks that arise during a training session is central to a learner’s ability to assess and respond to risk when they drive/ride independently. Performance standards You must be able to meet are

1. make sure you are fit to teach, and take suitable action if you are not
2. take reasonable steps to make sure the learner is fit to start the session, and take suitable action if they are not fit 3. make sure the learner fully understands how you will share with them the responsibility for  their safety  your safety  the safety of other road users
4. give clear and timely instructions (such as when and where to start, stop or turn), make sure that the learner understands your instructions and, if they do not, modify your instructions accordingly
5. ensure that any ancillary Knowledge and understanding requirements You must know and understand a. the importance of being fit to teach and able to manage the safety of the lesson effectively b. the signs that a learner’s fitness to be trained may be impaired by  alcohol  illegal or controlled substances  over-the-counter or prescription medicines c. the signs that a learner may be suffering from a physical or psychological condition that makes them unfit to be trained, including conditions that they are  unaware of  trying to hide d. what to do if you believe a learner  is temporarily unfit to be trained  has a permanent physical or psychological condition that they have not revealed e. how far you are responsible for the health and safety of yourself and others in the on-road National standard for driver and rider training 21 of 32 www.gov.uk/dvsa/driving-standards equipment used in a lesson is working properly
6. ensure the learner knows to respond to the actual situation on the road ahead if a satellite navigation system stops working or provides confusing guidance
7. explain when and how you may use verbal or physical interventions to ensure safety
8. continue to scan the environment and assess hazards while observing the learner and providing training inputs
9. take suitable and timely action where you  identify a hazard that the learner does not appear to be aware of  believe the learner is unable to respond safely to a hazard
10. use ‘client-centred’ techniques to make sure the learner is better equipped to deal with such hazards in the future 11. take suitable and timely action, including stopping the session, where the learner becomes unfit to continue or behaves in a way that places you, the learner or third parties at unacceptable risk
12. comply with any requirement to record details of situations in which specific risks arise
13. where the learner has driven/ridden before but they are learning environment f. how far the learner is responsible for health and safety in the on-road learning environment g. that as a supervising driver you are considered to be in control of the vehicle and learner driver, and must obey the rules of the road as if you were driving the vehicle yourself (for example, you must not use a mobile phone or be under the influence of alcohol whilst supervising a learner) h. how to safely integrate the use of satellite navigation systems into an on-road lesson and the sorts of problems that drivers can have when using them i. how you can take action, safely, and how this depends on the type of training vehicle6 j. where applicable, how to operate dual-controls k. how to give feedback about risk-related issues so that you motivate and help the learner to change their behaviour without increasing fearbased responses l. what to do if a learner becomes unfit to continue the session m. how to promptly interrupt deliberate behaviour that places the instructor, learner or third parties at risk n. the instructor’s right to interrupt or stop sessions where an unacceptable risk arises o. how to record incidents in which a risk situation arises p. the impact of your own level of competence and attitudes to risk on your ability to minimise risk q. the importance of demonstrating consistent attitudes to the management of risk to make
5 It is particularly important to understand how the balance of the responsibility may vary between vehicles. An instructor clearly has far less ability to act in the context of category A/M machines than in vehicles where they can take more direct control.
6 This understanding is particularly important for category A/M vehicles where the only intervention available is usually through two-way radio. In this context a sudden alarm may, in itself, distract the learner. National standard for driver and rider training 22 of 32 www.gov.uk/dvsa/driving-standards new to you, verify their learning status using an assessment drive/ride, where appropriate
​14. when delivering compulsory basic training (CBT) to learner riders, make a reasonable assessment of their ability to ride safely on the road sure that formal messages being given in the learning programme are not undermined r. how to conduct a safe assessment drive/ride

Tri-Coaching Partnership include Risk Management, read more here