Ensuring that employees are fit to undertake all driving duties in their role is essential for the health and wellbeing of employees, customers, and the public.
For some professional driving roles, for example HGV or PCV drivers, employees will need to undergo a medical examination with a doctor when applying for their initial driving licence and upon its renewal. This is done using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) D4 Medical examination for a Group 2 (lorry or bus) licence from D4_090223.jpg (publishing.service.gov.uk)
For employees undertaking other driving roles, within the business, where an additional licence entitlement is not required, including the driving of their own vehicles for business purposes, then it is advisable for you to undertake non-statutory health assessments (or generic driver medical) to ensure that employees are fit to drive. These are normally undertaken every 5 years until the age of 60 and annually thereafter.
The generic driver medical will involve the individual being asked a series of health questions to establish whether they have any underlying health conditions and where they do whether this is likely to impact upon them day to day. They will also be asked whether they are currently taking any medication which may impact upon their fitness to drive for example by making them drowsy. The assessment involves a screening vision assessment for near and distance vision and taking the individual blood pressure.
Where results are outside of the normal range then they will be advised to speak with their optician or GP as necessary, and this will be noted on the certificate with a recall for further testing as required.
Where individuals advise of any significant physical or mental health condition beyond the above, which may impact upon their limb strength, range of movement, and/or hand eye co-ordination, or their ability to focus on the complex task of driving safely for the duration of any potential shift, then a referral will be made to either an occupational health assessor (OHA – nurse) or occupational health physician (OHP – doctor) depending upon the nature of the issues reported.
Driver medicals will give employers the confidence to allocate driving roles to their staff and enable adjustments to be put in place for either the short or long term to support individuals to remain in work where safe to do so. 
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For further information about forklift truck (FLT) medicals click here