Fleet Managers Need to Wake Up
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents issued a wake up call to fleet managers six years ago with the publication of the first guidance on how to manage occupational road risk.
Since then the pressure on employers to take the issue seriously has been building gradually. RoSPA’s shocking figures that between 800 and 1,000 deaths on Britain’s roads each year are in some way work-related have been confirmed and are now widely accepted.
Those fleet managers who did not take that initial wake up call seriously, hoping the issue would go away, were given another jolt last year with the publication of guidance from the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Transport. That made it clear that employers had duties under health and safety law to manage the risks faced and created for others by employees when on the road.
By now, fleet managers should have no excuse for not addressing this subject. Those who make a commitment to put people, policies and procedures in place to tackle the management of occupational road risk should have no fears of falling foul of the law.
They need to start by reviewing their current position. A check on where they are now in terms of dealing with the problem should help them to set targets for where they want to be. There is plenty of professional help available for those organisations that do not feel happy doing this initial assessment themselves.
Companies need next to consider if they have a management structure in place to deal with occupational road risk in the same way that they deal with mainstream health and safety issues. Basics such as checking employees’ driving licences and even that their eyesight is good enough for the road may well have been overlooked.
People are important. The fleet manager, health and safety adviser, insurers and the director with responsibility for health and safety all need to be involved. But don’t forget to consult the drivers and their safety representatives, as they are the ones with the real experience on the road and can give invaluable feedback.
Make sure line managers are aware of the issues so that they can feed information, such as staff needing training, into the system.
Risk assessments should be carried out for individual drivers. It is not just a question of how good they are as a driver: you must also consider how dangerous their job is. For instance, anyone driving more than 25,000 miles a year for work would be high risk.
Assessments can be done out on the road with an assessor, but today there are other computer-based tools available such as psychometric testing which can help. Looking at accident records, or even the state of the car, can provide invaluable clues. Black-box technology can be used to check on driving performance and will show up such things as speeding, heavy braking and excessive fuel use.
Once these things have been considered the manager can decide if drivers would benefit from specialist training.
Good drivers need to be encouraged. Recognition with awards or financial incentives for those who drive well throughout the year are likely to convince them to maintain high standards on the road.
There is no need to overcomplicate the process to reap substantial rewards from sound policies for managing occupational road risk. The bill for a crash doesn’t end when the vehicle is repaired. It can result in costly court actions, damage to reputation, soaring insurance premiums and lost productivity and orders when injured staff are off work. Then, there’s the money that has to be spent on recruiting and training replacements. Also, knowing that their managers care about their safety and take their moral duty to protect their own and other road users seriously is likely to boost staff morale.
Well-thought-out policies to prevent work-related road accidents will provide proof of a responsible employer selecting suitable vehicles for the job, planning safe routes and setting realistic schedules so that drivers do not have to speed or be at the wheel when tired. In the process, you’ll be staying on the right side of the law and have nothing to fear from legal action.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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