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Managing Occupational Road Risk Safely

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Tariq Rajput
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33 views6 pages

Managing Occupational Road Risk Safely

Uploaded by

Tariq Rajput
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

1

Occupational road risk

Every week more than 20 people are killed and 250 are seriously injured in at-
work road crashes. The human and financial costs to families, businesses and the
wider community are massive.

Employers have clear duties under health and safety law to


manage occupational road risk in the same way that they
manage other health and safety risks.

(Click here to view the HSE/DfT guidance ‘Driving at Work’).

Drivers too have clear responsibilities.

Taking action to ensure safer driving can:

Help to keep your employees and volunteers safe while at work


Protect other road users
Save money by reducing accidents and incidents
Reduce business interruptions
Avoid adverse publicity associated with accidents
Help staff stay safe while commuting or driving in their leisure time
Promote smoother driving which improves fuel efficiency and reduces
environmental impact

And remember, your drivers are your ambassadors on the road!

The following advice, which is based on ‘plan-do-check-act’ management principles,


is aimed at directors, trustees, owners and managers in small and medium sized
organisations:

STEP 1: Plan

Take an overall look at vehicle use in your business, including not only your
own vehicles or those you hire but employees’ own vehicles driven for work
purposes. Look at annual mileages, incidents, their causes and costs. Also
think about the safety of your staff who may be at work on the road as
pedestrians or riding bicycles

2
Consult all members of staff about road safety. Listen to their views. Look at
what other organisations are doing. Seek information and advice from
outside sources (see list below)

Develop a short statement about your organisation’s approach to road


safety at work and communicate it to all your staff so that they understand
your aims and expectations. Make sure they know their responsibilities. Issue
a short drivers' guide to all drivers which sets out clearly all the 'musts and
must nots'

Carry out a simple risk assessment to see where you may have road safety
problems and if you are taking the right steps to control risk on the road and
promote safer driving. Look at aspects of 1) your vehicles 2) journey tasks
and 3) individual drivers that might tend to increase the overall level of risk.
Identify areas for priority action. Keep a simple record of your findings

STEP 2: Do

Can you reduce road travel; for example, by


teleconferencing or using safer modes of travel
like air or rail for longer journeys? (Remember,
if you travel by plane or by train you may still be
able to work during the journey)

Consider drivers’ attitudes and their driving


competence on recruitment and as necessary
thereafter. You can assess drivers while driving
or by using online tools. Ask them about their
crash histories and penalty points

Consider investing in extra driver training, for example, for those covering
the greatest mileages or with greater development needs such as young
drivers

Ensure drivers and their supervisors always


consider safety before driving, for example by
planning journeys which follow the safest
routes, wherever possible avoiding congestion,
crash sites and night and adverse weather
driving. If a journey is excessively long, staff may
need to travel the night before. Or they may need
to stay overnight rather than driving straight home
after working away. Plan stops of at least 15
minutes every two hours

Make it clear that staff must not speed. Don’t


set impossible schedules and deadlines. Avoid
systems of work (for example, ‘just in time’
delivery, payment by number of calls made, ‘job
and finish’, unrealistic guaranteed call-out or
delivery times etc.) which may encourage
speeding

3
Emphasise that staff must be fit to drive. Make clear that they must meet
DVLA medical fitness requirements and that they must not drive when they
have become excessively tired by work or when they are impaired, for
example by alcohol or drugs. Make sure they are alert to the effects of stress,
medicines which can affect their ability to drive safely, ‘morning after’ drink
driving, and fatigue due to poor work/life balance or sleep deprivation, for
example due to looking after sick children or frail dependants. Remind drivers
about the value of ‘caffeine and napping’ to cope with sleepiness while
driving. Make sure drivers have had eye sight checks

Ensure vehicles are right for the job (for example, load carrying or
accessing off-road locations) and that drivers are familiar with any new
vehicles they are asked to drive (e.g. hire vehicles)

Insist that they are properly maintained and serviced regularly, including
when owned by employees themselves. Consider the value of additional
safety features

Ensure vehicles are taxed, MoT’d where


necessary and that drivers have ‘business use’
insurance when using their own vehicles

Ensure they understand how to manoeuvre


vehicles safely, for example during parking and
reversing and that they know what to do when
visiting clients and other premises

Make sure all staff who drive know what they


should do in an emergency, including on
motorways

4
Ensure they carry mobile phones to call emergency services if necessary
BUT –

Prohibit all use of mobiles (hand held or hands free) while driving. (Set
mobiles to voice mail and retrieve messages during breaks from driving)

And above all, ensure that you and your firm’s supervisors always lead by
example. Set a pattern for others to follow by the way you drive yourself

STEP 3: Check

Check licences to see that drivers are entitled to drive the class or type of
vehicle to be driven. Monitor licences to track penalty points and crash
histories (whether or not they were driving for work)

Require staff to report all road traffic offences (whether at work or not). In
the first instance, always consider help and support rather than disciplinary
action

Ensure all accidents and ‘near-misses’ while driving for work are reported
and investigated

Require drivers to do daily and weekly


vehicle safety checks

Ask for claims data and safety related


information from vehicle providers
(minor damage, cases of excessive
brake/tyre wear etc.)

STEP 4: Act

Make time and space to review progress periodically (asking ‘where are we
now?’) to identify any further worthwhile steps you can take

See to it that any lessons to be learnt from experience are shared and fed
back to promote safer driving

Develop a simple action plan with targets for further improvement

Recognise, celebrate and reward safe driving achievements

Keep the topic live by always focusing on road safety in meetings, internal
memos, briefings, staff appraisals etc.

5
Sources of further information and support:

RoSPA ([Link]/roadsafety/resources/[Link])

RoSPA Driver Training ([Link]/drivertraining)

Health and Safety Executive ([Link]/roadsafety)

Department for Transport ([Link]/drivingforwork)

Occupational Road Safety Alliance ([Link])

Local Authority Road Safety (LARSOA [Link])

Benchmarking ([Link]/main)

Driving for Better Business ([Link])

Police forces, insurers and brokers, employers’ associations, trades


unions...

Common questions

Powered by AI

Organizations can assess drivers' attitudes and competencies by observing them on the road or using online tools and reviewing their crash histories and penalty points. Driver training should be provided, particularly for those with high mileages or development needs. It should be made clear that drivers must not speed or drive when impaired by fatigue, alcohol, or drugs. Drivers should follow schedules that prevent exhaustion, and they should be aware of the effects of stress, fatigue, and medications. Eye checks and vehicle familiarity are also important. Companies should enforce speed regulations and realistic deadlines to avoid pushing employees to risky behavior .

Organizations should implement strategies such as enforcing rest periods during long journeys, and advocating for journey times that include overnight stays if necessary. Educating drivers on recognizing fatigue signs and encouraging practices like 'caffeine and napping' can mitigate acute tiredness. Ensuring drivers are fit to drive, physically and mentally, involves checking for sleep deprivation and managing workloads that afford a balanced work-life schedule .

Vehicles should be chosen based on their suitability for specific tasks and conditions, such as load carrying or off-road capacity. They need to be well-maintained, serviced regularly, and equipped with any additional safety features necessary. Employees using their vehicles should have business use insurance, and all vehicles should be familiar to the drivers tasked with operating them .

Supervisors play a pivotal role by setting a good example with their own driving behaviors. Consistent demonstration of safe driving creates a pattern for others to emulate. Supervisors also ensure that policies are consistently enforced and that any breaches of safety practices are addressed, often initially with support rather than discipline .

Regular reviews of road safety progress help identify further improvement steps and ensure lessons learned from incidents are shared, promoting safer driving. Reviewing allows organizations to set new targets and maintain focus on safety through meetings and communications. Celebrating achievements can foster a culture of safety and encourage continuous improvement .

Organizations need to take a comprehensive look at vehicle use, including owned, hired, and employees' own vehicles used for work. They should analyze annual mileages, incidents, their causes, and costs. Input from staff on road safety should be incorporated, and organizations should look at what others are doing and seek external advice. A short road safety approach statement should be communicated to staff, clarifying responsibilities. Risk assessments should be performed on vehicles, journey tasks, and individual drivers to identify priority areas for action .

Organizations should ensure journey planning emphasizes safety by choosing the safest routes, avoiding congestion, crash sites, night travel, and adverse weather. Drivers should not have impossible schedules, and planners should factor in conditions like long travel times, which might necessitate overnight stays or travel the night before. Regular breaks should be arranged, such as 15-minute stops every two hours .

Continuous assessment and adjustment are necessary to align strategies with changing conditions, new regulations, and the organization's actual performance data. This approach can help identify new risk areas, ensure compliance, and leverage technological and procedural improvements, enhancing overall safety and reducing incidents and associated costs .

Effectiveness can be assessed by tracking vehicle-related incidents such as accidents and near misses, monitoring claims data for issues like excessive brake wear, and verifying compliance with regular safety check schedules. Employee feedback on vehicle condition and procedural compliance can also provide valuable insights .

Prohibiting mobile phone use reduces driver distractions, which are a significant cause of accidents. By setting mobile devices to voicemail and only retrieving messages during breaks, drivers can focus on the road, enhancing their situational awareness and reaction times, resulting in safer driving conditions .

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