The daily walkaround check is the cheapest safety system in transport. It costs a few minutes before the first journey, needs no equipment beyond a phone and a torch, and it is the control that catches the tyre about to fail, the brake light out, the load about to shift - before the police or DVSA find them for you. The government publishes an official van walkaround checklist, and it is more thorough than most drivers realise.
This guide walks through the official check and explains how to make it stick in a real fleet.
The starting point is personal responsibility: you are responsible for making sure your van is safe to drive. Carry out a walkaround check of the van before your journey to make sure it is safe. The police and DVSA officers can stop and check your vehicle - and the items they examine at the roadside are largely the same items on this checklist, so a driver who checks properly has nothing to fear from a stop.
If you are driving for a business that has an operator licence, you should record and report any defects you find during the walkaround check - and any you become aware of during the journey. The check is not complete until the defect is reported; finding a problem and driving on anyway converts a maintenance issue into a compliance failure.
The DVSA checklist works systematically around and through the van:
Front view, mirrors, cameras and glass. Nothing should obstruct your front view - as a general rule, there should be nothing in the swept area of the windscreen wipers. Check the windscreen is not damaged or obscured, mirrors are in place without damaged or missing glass, not obscured and not insecure, and cameras are in place and working.
Washers, wipers and warning lights. Washers and wipers must work correctly and be in good condition. On the dash, check all warning lights work, including ABS, airbags (SRS), EBS, EPS, ESC, the full beam warning lamp and the parking brake warning lamp.
Steering, horn and brakes. The steering wheel should move properly without jamming, with no excessive play, working power assistance and no excessive lift or movement in the column. The horn must work. For brakes: the footwell must be clear of rubbish, and both the service brake and parking brake must work correctly without excessive travel.
Seats and belts. Seats secure; belts free of cuts, damage or fraying, staying secure when plugged in, retracting when fitted and fully retracting when released.
Lights and indicators. All lights and indicators working; lenses fitted, clean and the right colour; stop lamps coming on with the service brake and going out on release; marker lights fitted and working.
Fluids, fuel and oil. Brake fluid, coolant, engine oil, power steering fluid, washer fluid and water levels correct; fuel filler cap secure; no leaks - look for dripping or puddles, with the engine turned on for the fuel and oil check. Check the battery is secure, in good condition and not leaking.
Bodywork, doors, tyres and wheels. Doors shutting properly and secure, no damage or sharp edges, no loose panels. Then the tyres - the item with the sharpest personal consequences: wheels and trims secure, legal tread depth, correct inflation, no deep cuts or damage to sidewall or tread, no wire or cord visible, wheels undamaged. You can get 3 penalty points on your licence for each tyre that is not safe and legal - four bad tyres is a ban’s worth of points from one vehicle.
The load. The load must not move and must not be likely to move, with the right securing system used; doors, side boards or tailgate with effective locking devices; body, bulkhead and floor in good condition.
Fuel systems and exhaust. Diesel vehicles need enough AdBlue - top up if necessary. The exhaust must not leak or emit excessive smoke or noise. On alternative fuel vehicles, know where the fuel isolation switch is, check for leaks, and confirm visible components are in good condition.
Plates, towing and equipment. Number plates of the correct type, secure and easily read. If towing: the tow bar secure, the trailer correctly and securely attached with electrical connections working, and a breakaway cable fitted. Any specialised kit - a tail lift, for example - must be secure, undamaged and working.
A checklist on the wall does nothing by itself. Fleets that get value from walkaround checks do four things. They use the official diagram - DVSA publishes a downloadable one-page version - so every driver checks the same items in the same order. They give drivers a recording method, paper or app, that produces a dated record per vehicle per day. They act on reports fast enough that drivers see the point - nothing kills defect reporting like reported defects that stay unfixed for a fortnight. And they audit: a supervisor comparing a week’s nil-defect reports against what the workshop finds tells you instantly whether the checks are real.
Van prohibitions are dominated by overloading and tyre condition - exactly the items a walkaround check touches every morning. A fleet whose drivers genuinely check, record and report is a fleet whose problems get fixed in the yard instead of explained at the roadside. Ten minutes a day is the entire price.