Members Briefing – Car & Vehicle Sharing


COVID-19: Updated Manufacturing Sector Guidance (8th February 2021)

The Scottish Government has updated the Manufacturing Sector Guidance with an amendment to the advice on car and vehicle sharing and should just confirm the measures companies already have in place.

The following link is to the Scottish Government Manufacturing Sector Guidance:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): manufacturing sector guidance – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The main points are:
Employees should be encouraged to avoid sharing a vehicle with anyone from another household unless they absolutely have to. In situations where sharing a vehicle is unavoidable, such as travelling to work:

  • all employees should be instructed not to use shared transport if they are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 and should stay at home and follow government guidance on self-isolation. Encourage drivers or designated persons to check employees prior to boarding vehicles to ensure those who have suspected symptoms do not travel;
  • limit the number of people from another household, ideally no more than 2. This may result in organising more trips with fewer people;
  • where possible, restrict car-sharing to groups of people who use the same work area;
  • all employees should be advised to wear face coverings in shared vehicles (as required when using public transport, and provided it does not compromise driver safety in any way) and perform hand hygiene before and after leaving the vehicle;
  • vehicles should be well ventilated (i.e. by keeping the windows open), and passengers should sit as far apart as possible, with the passenger in the back seat, diagonally opposite the driver and aiming for 2-meter physical distancing between occupants;
  • shared vehicles, including minibuses, should be cleaned regularly using gloves, with particular emphasis on handles, buttons, seat belts, and other areas where passengers may touch surfaces.

Full advice on car and vehicle sharing can be found on Transport Scotland website.

The operational guide and checklist also asks to consider whether it is practical to keep a record of those who car share and provides further guidance on managing visitors to premises:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): manufacturing sector guidance – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

If you have any questions, you can call the team on 0141 221 3181.