Whistleblowing in a transport company: staff in the field
In a transport company, a channel that only works on the computer at the depot is a channel for the dispatcher. The Act names transport safety explicitly, and the people who see the breaches are on the road. The channel must work from the cab of a lorry, not only from the office.
The situation
Drivers and warehouse staff have no company laptop and no email address, and the only computer at the depot is in the dispatcher's office. A channel that works only on the intranet does not exist for them.
How it works
A report can be made by SMS, by phone, or from a personal mobile through the page at the company's address. Case status is checked the same way, from a phone, with a code and a PIN. The channel is genuinely available to everyone, not just to the office.
- Multiple channels
- Anonymity
- Legal compliance
In this scenario 4
What the Act says in this situation
Transport safety is in the catalogue of breaches in Article 3(1) of the Whistleblower Protection Act, and entities carrying out activity in this field covered by the acts listed in the annex to the Directive are obliged to have a procedure regardless of headcount (Article 23(3)). A carrier employing drivers on employment contracts, service contracts and through sole traders usually exceeds the threshold many times over, and a B2B driver is a whistleblower just like a salaried one.
The typical subjects of reports, drivers' working time and tachograph manipulation, overloading, the technical condition of vehicles, the carriage of dangerous goods, fall within the category of transport safety; breaches relating to pay and posting are outside the catalogue, unless the procedure covers internal regulations.
The Act requires the possibility of oral reporting, including by telephone (Article 26), and the availability of the channel to all people performing work, which in transport means availability from outside the company network.
What to watch when implementing
- The phone as the main device. The reporting page must work on a phone with a slow connection, with no app to install, with a form that saves a draft.
- SMS and telephone as channels. A driver will report by SMS from a car park faster than through a form. The phone number identifies the sender; the procedure should say so and offer an anonymous alternative through the page.
- Languages. Drivers from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, the Philippines. A form in their languages is not a convenience but the condition for the channel to exist for half the workforce.
- Retaliation in the form of rotas and routes. Worse routes, no jobs, an unfavourable change to the working time schedule are in the catalogue of retaliation in Article 12. The dispatcher must know that they are personally liable for this.
- Reports from subcontractors' drivers. People performing work under the supervision of a subcontractor are whistleblowers in relation to the entity they work for. The channel should accept them.
Features that make the difference
- Channels: web page, email, SMS, telephone reports recorded in the same case (deployment and channels).
- Case status from a phone by code and PIN, with no account and no email (confidentiality).
- Multiple languages and forms: separate ones for drivers, the warehouse and the office.
- Deadlines counted by the system, so a report from the road does not get stuck in the dispatcher's inbox (case handling).
- SMS notifications to the whistleblower of acknowledgement and feedback, if they gave a number.
- WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, including large touch targets and no time limits.
Frequently asked questions
Does a transport company with 30 people need a procedure?
If it carries out activity in the field of transport safety covered by the acts indicated in the Directive, yes, regardless of headcount (Article 23(3)). The scope of those acts is worth confirming with a lawyer for the specific type of carriage; for the carriage of dangerous goods and road haulage covered by EU regulations the answer is usually yes.
Is a report by SMS anonymous?
No. The sender's number identifies the whistleblower, and the system saves it as a contact address. An anonymous report is made through the page, which does not log the IP address or the number. The procedure should describe both routes.
More on channels in the article Reporting channels: written, oral, in a meeting.
A procedure is a document. A channel is the system that carries it out.
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