As a fleet manager, managing the health and safety of individuals is always a top priority for your fleet’s operations. This human resources risk category has significant cross-over with all other elements of fleet risk such as financial and legal risk. This is why it takes a comprehensive fleet management policy and vigilance across a number of areas to limit the chances of any employees – or their passengers – being put in harm’s way.
In a recent article we explored the role of telematics in protecting your fleet across a number of risk areas. While investing in telematics can provide your organisation with data to inform risk reduction measures – such as identifying safer routes and driver training needs – there are other ways for organisations to improve visibility of the following human resource risks for their fleet:
1. Driver assessment and training
Tracking driving performance for employees is essential to staying informed on fleet risk. This should include the number and severity of incidents across your fleet and for individual employers.
Education and practical training for drivers identified as being high risk can help reduce the risk of further incidents and fleet managers can also explore incentives to encourage safe driving behaviour.
2. Licencing and insurance
It’s important to have a schedule to check licence status for fleet vehicle drivers – including employees’ spouses and other family members who drive fleet vehicles – to ensure they’re qualified to drive the vehicles and have not had their licence limited, suspended or withdrawn. This auditing process can also help identify drivers who need further training. For private vehicles used for business journeys, employers should check that employees have the right type of vehicle insurance policy and enough cover.
3. Driver health and fatigue
According to the World Health Organisation’s Global Status Report on Road Safety, driver fatigue is a factor in large number of road accidents. Driving for work puts people at higher risk of driver fatigue, especially if they spend long hours driving and drive at night. So it’s very important to monitor the length and timing of journeys to limit accidents caused by employees driving tired.
Certain disabilities and illnesses require driver’s to declare their condition to their state-based licencing authority. Employers should also ask their drivers to disclose any health-related impairment to their driving, including any medication they need to take that could affect their driving.
4. Vehicle condition and maintenance
For vehicles owned or leased by your organisation, keeping vehicles safe to drive is relatively simple when you stick to well-defined maintenance policies and replacement cycles.
These factors are harder to manage when employees use their own vehicles for business journeys. This is why a fleet policy that includes maintenance requirements and safety standards for grey fleet vehicles is essential. Organisations can ask for proof of servicing for private vehicles used for business or request a driver declaration that their vehicle is correctly maintained to an agreed schedule.
5. Journey planning
Journey planning is becoming ever more important from a productivity and sustainability perspective as well as for risk management. Before approving vehicle use for a journey, oragnisations should be asking whether a car journey is really required – would a public transport or telecoms solution be a safer, more sustainable substitute and a better use of an employee’s time?
Choosing the safest path: 5 tips for lower risk journeys
- Avoid journeys at riskier times of the day
- Schedule visits and/or deliveries to minimise mileage travel times
- Choose routes to make the most of safer roads (e.g. motorways and dual carriageways) and steer clear of accident blackspots and high congestion areas
- Encourage employees to car share when attending the same site or meeting to minimise driver fatigue
- Avoid scheduling trips that put drivers under time pressures that could lead to speeding or driving for extended periods without a break
KEEPING DRIVERS, VEHICLES AND THE COMMUNITY SAFE
We go the extra mile to support safer driving. Our Driver Manager system provides a user-friendly dashboard to store key driver information including driver profiles, medical information, driver licence details and fine/infringement information. It gives organisations an easy way to manage the data and processes that support safe driving practices across their fleet.
For more about how we can help your fleet perform at its best, get in touch today.
Other resources
Making technology work for your fleet: 3 tips from the experts
