Events

FREE for ALL (please log in on the SOM website first). 

Webinar Summary - A New Era of Assessing Driver Health

1934     First licence for a lorry driver was issued;
1967     The Road Safety Act paved the way for lorry drivers testing and licensing;
1988     The Road Traffic Act developed this further with the concept of fitness to drive;
1990     The DVLA was formed;
2025    Why are we are still using the DVLA D4 form to assess medical fitness...?

The UK has changed a lot since the DVLA was formed: our population has gone from 57.25M to 69.55M, with obesity in adults doubling between 1990 and 2022. As the needs (and disease prevalence) of drivers has changed over the years so our approach to assessing driver physical and mental health, and thus safety, must also evolve while legislation catches up. 

Speaker Bio:
 
Dr. Grant Charlesworth-Jones, Chairman of the D4Group is uniquely qualified as both a GP and a Barrister, bringing a wealth of experience from the medical, legal, and occupational health fields. His diverse background inspired him to create D4Drivers, now the UK's largest provider of driver health assessments and D4Health, specialists in Occupational Health for the transport and logistics sector.
 
Driven by a passion for improving road safety, he also spearheaded the Driving Better Health charity, which has garnered widespread industry support. In collaboration with Loughborough University, the charity is leading groundbreaking research into how occupational driving impacts the health of professional drivers. Through these efforts, Dr. Charlesworth-Jones is dedicated to advocating for more proactive and regular driver health interventions, making a strong case for improved safety regulations on the road.
 

Chair: Lucy Smith, Head of Occupational Health & Wellbeing, Mitie

FREE for ALL. You will then be sent the joining link.

FOR SOM MEMBERS ONLY £20

We have arranged a special visit to the Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall on Wednesday 5th November 2025.

The tour will begin at 11.30am. Spaces are limited to 10 people on a first come, first served basis. Please only book on if you can make it.

This visit will include an underground tour of the Tin Mine which takes approx. 2 hours, so please only book on if you are comfortable with that.

This is an opportunity to also meet fellow SOM members in an interesting workplace environemnt and to socialise over lunch afterwards.. 

You can find out more about the tour online here https://geevor.com/ 

SOM Members ONLY. If you are not a member, please join here www.som.org.uk

The four courses aim to help delegates understand the facts about drug & alcohol misuse in the workplace including legal considerations, how to compile a substance misuse policy and interpretation of reports generated by the laboratory.

Collection Officer Training
Who should attend: Anyone who undertakes Chain of Custody collections; OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs; HR Managers; Health & Safety Officers; trade union members
Course content:
- Preparing a site for collection
- Mechanics of a urine collection, troubleshooting and common errors
- Collection demonstration for back-to-lab and Point of Collection [POC] devices
- Breathalyser selection, calibration and verification with demonstration
- What happens to the samples in the laboratory
- Oral fluid and hair collections
Cost: £285 per delegate

MRO Training, part 1
Who should attend: OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs
Course content:
- The role of the Medical Review Officer [MRO] including the Medical Review
- Laboratory process
- Adulteration checks and how donors try and mislead the testing
- Drug metabolism looking at the fact and fiction behind positive samples
- Evaluation and debate of Chain of Custody cases through result interpretation
Cost: £285 per delegate

MRO Training, part 2
Who should attend: OHA / OHNAs; Occupational Health Physicians; GPs
Course content:
- Use of alternative biological samples such as hair, oral fluid, sweat and sweat vapour
- Pros and cons of Point of Collection [POC] devices, how to develop protocols consistent with the principles of Chain of Custody
- Quality and accreditation, UK Guidelines for Workplace Drugs Testing, minimum service level to expect
- Alcohol including biomarkers such as EtG/EtS, FAEE
- Evaluation via MCQs
Cost: £285 per delegate

Policy Workshop
Who should attend: HR Managers; Health & Safety Officers; Occupational Health professionals; trade union members
Course content:
- Drawing up a draft substance misuse policy
- Timelines for policy introduction and educational requirements
Cost: £175 per delegate for a half-day

On-site courses can be tailored to your requirements. Please call for further information and details of costs

Venues and dates available throughout 2025:

Policy, afternoon

Collection Officer

MRO1

MRO2

Zoom UK/GMT

03-Feb

04-Feb

05-Feb

06-Feb

Zoom UK/BST

04-Aug

05-Aug

06-Aug

07-Aug

Zoom UAE BST-3hrs

27-Apr

28-Apr

29-Apr

30-Apr

Zoom UAE BST-3hrs

05-Oct

06-Oct

07-Oct

08-Oct

Dates and start times can be adapted to your time zone. Please contact Helen Vangikar for further details.

All delegates will receive an information pack and certificate(s), and MRO1 and MRO2 are accredited and qualify for CPD hours from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians [UK].

To view further course details please click here.

For more information please email: helen@helenvangikar.com or visit www.helenvangikar.com.