It's estimated there are now over 4.5 million vans on UK roads – a number that has spiked by over 50 per cent in the last 10 years.

And due to demand for online shopping and grocery deliveries, as well as growth in the service sector, it's not expected to slow down any time soon.

But just how legal and safe are those vans, their drivers and the employers who operate them?

Well, with that in mind, a new free toolkit has been launched by the Highways England Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team as part of the Driving for Better Business programme.

It aims to help keep drivers safe, vans legal and to ensure employers comply with not just road traffic legislation but also their Health and Safety at Work responsibilities.

There is a common misconception that there is little legislation governing van drivers and van operations, while many employers are unaware that driving a vehicle for work is clearly covered by Health and Safety rules.

The Van Driver Toolkit is a series of free information modules designed to assist van drivers and their managers. It can be accessed by fleet operators and anyone who employs van drivers in their business, and can be shared either online, via email or as printed cards. The toolkit will help employers implement best practice to improve driver wellbeing, reduce costs, improve operating conditions, and ensure safe and legal vehicles on our roads.

The modules address the real issues that van drivers deal with, such as the risks of overloading; attention to vehicle roadworthiness; safe and considerate parking and drivers’ hours.

Mark Cartwright, Head of the Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team at Highways England, believes the Van Driver Toolkit will help fledging businesses avoid breaking any rules of the road.

He said: "One of the things that we see in the van space is the ‘organically grown’ van fleet - the local business, the local entrepreneur that set themselves up as a gardener, or dog walker, or window washer, or plumber, or window cleaner - whatever it happens to be - and got good at it.

"Five years on, and there are 10, 20, 50 vans parked outside - but they haven't gone through the same learning processes as a truck operator would do, for example, and probably don't realise the significant financial and reputational risk they are exposed to.

"Most of the time it is genuinely a lack of awareness - we see vans being operated by businesses that are very good at managing their health and safety in the primary areas of their business, away from the vehicle, but it doesn't necessarily translate to the vehicle operation.

"This is why we have created the Van Driver Toolkit - to help everyone employing van drivers and operating vans to improve their management of road risk."

Simon Turner, Driving for Better Business Campaign Manager, added: "We constantly encourage fleet operators to communicate clearly with their drivers as an essential part of creating a safe driving culture within the business.

"However, this is easier said than done as not every business has the time or expertise available in-house to create the resources necessary to do this.

"We created the Van Driver Toolkit so that managers could regularly share essential information with their drivers about the standards required, and how to meet them, in a wide range of easily accessible formats."

The Van Driver Toolkit is available here: https://vandrivertoolkit.co.uk/