Keep your eyes on the road
May 1st 2009

With a recession in full swing, crucial developments in legislation and the Government planning its road safety strategy for beyond 2010, there has never been a better time to evaluate approaches to fleet safety says RoSPA's Kevin Clinton

Around a third of road accidents in the UK involve someone who was driving at work at the time. Once workplace-related vehicle accidents are taken into account as well, it is clear that effective management of occupational road risk could prevent thousands of injuries and deaths each year.

Small and medium enterprises need to be particularly aware of recent developments in legislation, like the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act last spring. The early indications are that smaller businesses are taking longer to get up to speed with the laws, especially the new Health and Safety Offences at Work Act. The act, introduced in January, is even more relevant than the Corporate Manslaughter Act for fleet safety, despite the fact it was heralded with less publicity. It brings the spotlight of responsibility onto individuals, rather than organisations, and stiffens penalties so that fleet managers and fleet decisionmakers, including directors, can be jailed for up to two years for health and safety breaches. And unlike the Corporate Manslaughter Act, prosecutions under the Health and Safety Offences Act do not require someone to have been killed.

But the reasons for paying close attention to fleet safety are not all negative. In fact, the business case for MORR (managing occupational road risk) cannot be overstated, especially during a recession. Taking a positive approach to your employees' road safety at a time when sales and turnover might dip can help cut the losses which arise from easily preventable accidents.

Fleet managers looking to step up their efforts in road safety can operate within the traditional framework of wider road safety strategy, which has traditionally been split into three areas – engineering, education and enforcement. For every strand there are corresponding and overlapping threads for employment policy.

Engineering In terms of engineering for instance, is your fleet regularly serviced? And could you make use of technology like ESC (electronic stability control), to improve safety? Engineering can also be put to good use on work premises. It is not acceptable for poor design or layout to contribute to vehicle accidents on your site, so carry out a professional assessment and make any necessary changes.

Education Education, the second aspect of road safety strategy, is vital because it's important that employees know where they stand. Does your company have an MORR policy which is well known by staff and easily accessible? Or would the workers struggle to describe the firm's policy on, say, people using a mobile phone behind wheel? In wider road strategy, education is also linked to training and publicity. Again, even in difficult economic times, the potential return and savings from investing in training for driving staff is enormous. Driver profiling, to identify high risk drivers, and ecodriving schemes are certainly worth considering, with benefits – such as reduced fuel costs and lighter carbon footprints – which go far beyond safety. One such scheme is the Government's SAFED (safe and fuel efficient driving) course for van and HGV drivers. RoSPA is an approved deliverer of the course, which can be adapted for car drivers, and of other training including for the Driver Certificate of Professional Competency.

Enforcement The third strand of road safety strategy, enforcement, could be overlooked at company level, as it is often seen as the responsibility of police or the highways authorities. But fleet managers can take practical steps to make sure risky behaviour on the road or in vehicles on the work premises is not tolerated.

The key thing here is linked to what has already been mentioned about education – letting staff know what is expected of them.

Once staff know which attitudes and actions are not appropriate, penalties can be set in place for those who flout company policy.

If you're not already proactively involved in fleet safety, now is a great time to start. And if you are involved, make sure you keep up to date with all the latest developments so there can be sustainable and continuous improvement in road safety.

Kevin Clinton is head of Road Safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)

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