3. Vehicle tracking


The use of cameras in vehicles has now become commonplace. In some cases this involves outward or forward facing cameras, to record any road or traffic incidents. Having a recording of any road accident is viewed as particularly useful in attributing fault and settling insurance claims, for example. Indeed, the installation of cameras has reportedly enabled the insurance costs for vehicle fleets to be brought down. 


According to a Unite official, the increasing popularity of front-facing cameras also relates to the spread of insurance scams, such as those where other drivers pull in front of lorries and then slam on their brakes in order to be hit in the rear and then make an insurance claim. 


Externally-facing cameras are used in range of sectors, including delivery and service vehicles, refuse vehicles, and passenger coaches and buses. 


Unions have voiced concerns about the way in which footage from such recordings can be used to performance manage or discipline employees, for example, if they drive in an unsafe way, take the wrong route or use too much fuel. 


According to officials at both the GMB and Unite unions, there have been several cases at environmental management and waste disposal company Veolia, where images from safety cameras fitted to refuse wagons have been used in order to discipline workers. At the time of writing, the GMB had lodged a dispute with Veolia in South Yorkshire over the company’s failure to provide the union with a copy of its policies or guidance in relation to the use of CCTV. 


A senior Unite official told LRD that vehicle cameras can have their uses in recording events and incidents involving members of the public, as “abuse and violence against refuse collectors and drivers is becoming more common”. But the union stresses that how the data is to be used “must be disclosed to the workforce”. The official referred to growing “incidents of rough sleepers in bins and skips” and that cameras are being used “to alert drivers and collectors and to remind them to check all containers”.


In-cab cameras which are pointed at drivers and can be used to monitor every aspect of the driver’s behaviour, including their driving, have been more controversial. A GMB official commented that cameras have been used to discipline drivers for health and safety breaches as well as breaches of the law, for example, not wearing seatbelts and smoking in cabs. 


Such cameras are also commonly used on buses and coaches as a means of security to monitor passenger behaviour. However, concerns have been raised about the way contact between drivers and passengers is monitored, with the driver’s customer services skills being evaluated on top of their performance in driving and manoeuvring the vehicle, and stopping and picking up passengers. 


Some instances of video recordings being combined with sound recordings were also mentioned by union reps and officials. In one case, a driver was told off for “singing too loudly”. Again, the use of such equipment has been questioned and challenged by unions.