The Government is to write an occupational Highway Code for staff who drive during work time, including company car drivers.
Health and safety minister Lord Whitty told a seminar on managing occupational road risk last week that employers must be responsible for the health and safety of their drivers.
Figures from Rospa show that one in four fatal accidents on the roads every year occur while the victim is at work. The Government estimates that work-related road deaths make up 15 per cent of the total of 1,200 killed a year.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
The TUC wants employers to apply for a licence which shows they have minimum safety standards in place before they put drivers on the road.
Employers should be liable for road accidents involving their employees, it said.