Focusing on safety

Transport is crucial to business success and involves not only infrastructure improvements but also innovation and behavioural change

The UK government’s transport strategy is firmly focused on providing a sustainable policy that delivers a system that supports national economic competitiveness and growth, by delivering reliable and efficient transport networks.
    
Wthin that overarching goal are a number of other targets that include:

• Contributing to better safety, security and health and longer life-expectancy by reducing the risk of death, injury or illness arising from transport
• Reducing transport’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, with the desired outcome of tackling climate change.  

It is to accelerate the former that is one of the reasons behind the government’s ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme, which will move into its fourth year in April.
    
There is clear evidence that road safety is improving with the number of deaths on Britain’s roads falling to a record low in 2007 (2,973) and initial evidence suggesting that 2008 figures will be even lower.
    
It is also true to say that around four times as many people are killed and injured on the road while driving on business than they are in the factory or office. Therefore, there should be no room for complacency among company directors and managers in terms of managing the risk posed by their driving employees.

Difficult times
With the onset of economic recession, every single company is looking to cut costs. Road crashes cost money – indeed it has been calculated that for every £1 recovered through insurance between £8 and £36 is unrecoverable.
    
So, with the economic pressures on organisations to secure even more business the net result may well be employees being driven to undertake more appointments. The impact of fatigued drivers being on the road could then be catastophic for them, their families and the business.
    
Road crashes are an avoidable business cost. If staff – whether they take to the wheel of a company provided vehicle or their own – drive on business they need managing.
    
That means ensuring the vehicles they take to the road in are fit-for-purpose, employees are equally ‘fit’ to drive and the journeys being undertaken are not a risk. Safe drivers in safe vehicles arrive at their destination; unsafe drivers in unsafe vehicles undertake dangerous journeys and may not arrive at their destination thus impacting on business efficiency and costing the company money.

Best practice
That is where the ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign scores. A network of 23 ‘business champions’ from the corporate sector has been established to drive forward occupational road risk management best practice alongside 11,000 campaign members.
    
Each one of them can point to financial savings as a result of promoting safe driving to their employees.
    
It is also vital to understand that the law has been tightened in the last year with the aim of encouraging companies to analyse their existing at-work driving health and safety and ensure they are robust enough to withstand police and Health and Safety Executive investigation in the event of a crash.
    
Last year the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act was introduced to make it easier to prosecute companies whose poor safety standards contributed to a fatal road crash.
    
Meanwhile, in January this year, the Health and Safety (Offences) Act came into effect. The Act is aimed at punishing individuals just as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act targets organisations.
    
Unlike the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act a breach of health and safety rules will not have to result in a crash death. With those found guilty now facing a maximum £20,000 fine and/or two years in jail, the law could be used to bring to justice those managers responsible for allowing cars to be driven on illegal/unsafe tyres, a fatigued driver making an error after working too many hours or encouraging hand-held mobile phones to be used.

Be in charge
Boards of directors and senior managers need to take ownership of at-work road safety. As a further incentive, they will also find that a safe fleet is a more environmentally-friendly fleet. Fuel bills will be cut and vehicle wear and tear will reduce thus contributing to cost reduction.
    
The ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign is managed on behalf of the Department for Transport by RoadSafe. The campaign supporters are companies which attach high importance to good management of those who drive for work. Top level management involvement, careful planning and supervision, effective rules based on sound risk assessment and innovative training in these companies has gone a long way to bringing avoidable costs under control.

These responsible firms have recognised the duty they have towards their mobile workforce and work hard to improve the safety of their employees and other road users.

Benefits for companies of implementing a safe at-work driving policies

1. Lower fleet operating costs
2. A reduced number of crashes improves business efficiency
3. Fewer crashes mean less ‘lost’ staff time due to injury
4. Less crashes will mean lower  insurance premiums
5. Vehicle use will be more effective as downtime due to crashes will be cut
6. Staff morale will improve as disruption caused by death or injury will be cut
7. Safe driving practices adopted by staff at work are also likely to be reflected in improved ‘off the job’ road safety
8. An organisation’s reputation will improve through the promotion of safe driving practices
9. Organisations will comply with the law 
10. An improved road safety culture will pervade all activities.

For more information
www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com
www.roadsafe.com/