Sedan and Light Commercial
Journey Risk Factors
The types of roads driven, terrain, congestion and adverse weather conditions can significantly contribute to crashes. Drivers need to acknowledge these changing conditions and adjust their driving technique accordingly. Training and instruction may play an important part in increasing drivers’ awareness of these hazards.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Significant driving in adverse weather conditions.
- Regions that have rapidly changing weather conditions, including storms, snowfall, rainfall, bright sunshine etc.
- Remote or rural areas where road surface conditions are poor.
- Drivers who may be exposed to a wide variety of road types, surfaces and congestion.
Positive
- Regular route assessment and/or planning.
- Specialised driver training.
- Ensure vehicles are adequate for road and weather conditions.
- Ensure that drivers are equipped with additional safety equipment (e.g. snow chains, shovels for snow; or daytime running lights for bright sunshine).
Risk improvement ideas
- Where adverse terrain, road types, road surfaces etc exist, consider implementing procedures to plan routes.
- Consider specific training for drivers in adverse conditions, such as unsealed roads, off-road driving etc.
- Consider training and awareness programs for drivers who may experience adverse, or rapidly changing weather conditions.
- Procedures should exist that allows employees to abort trips in extreme weather conditions, or make safer, alternative travel arrangements.
Resources
Fatigue is a significant contributor of vehicle collisions. These often involve fatalities and serious injuries as the driver has significantly slower reactions and impaired observation skills, meaning that high speed impacts are more likely.
Fatigue may be caused by work and non-work related activities. The risk of fatigue increases dramatically with insufficient sleep. Driver alertness is also affected by job demand, repetition, diet, time of day, length of journey, health etc.
What do we look for?
Negative
- There is no working hours policy.
- No monitoring of compliance with the working hours policy.
- Working practices discourage drivers from taking breaks when they feel tired.
- There are many employees with variable working hours (including planned rotational shifts, schedules and work patterns).
- No education is provided for employees on work and non-work related fatigue management.
Positive
- Journeys are not allowed to be made between midnight and 6am.
- Employees take regular breaks (20 minutes every two hours, or sooner if feeling tired).
- Daily and weekly working hours are limited by company policy, procedures and supervision.
- Fatigue awareness is at least included in company inductions.
- Fixed, daytime hours are worked.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a policy limiting the maximum length of the working day/week, including driving time. Recommend to drivers that they take 20 minute breaks every two hours.
- An example of this is to ensure that employees are empowered to use overnight hotel accommodation, flights/public transport to avoid extensive travel/commute and work in the same day. Eliminate the necessity for employees to make journeys between midnight and 6am.
- Provide fatigue awareness education to managers, supervisors as well as drivers. This would include work and non-work related issues, as well as guidance on diet, health and sleep.
- Ideally, establish fixed/regular hours of work as opposed to variable. If this is not possible, or your business is exposed to high fatigue exposures, consider implementing a Fatigue Risk Management System.
- Regularly monitor compliance with the Fatigue Policy.
Resources
Vicarious Liability exposures include permitting or encouraging employees to use personal vehicles for business purposes or allowing family members to operate company vehicles. Without effective controls, the Company’s liability exposure is significantly increased, particularly in highly litigious societies. Providing a cash payment or mileage allowance to the employee does not relieve the Employer of liability.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Personal vehicles are used regularly for business purposes with no control process in place.
- Family members are permitted to drive company vehicles.
- There is no process to review drivers licenses or driving record.
- Business Use Insurance is lacking, or insufficient coverage which presents a contingent exposure to the company insurance.
Positive
- Employees do not use personal vehicles for business purposes.
- A comprehensive process exists requiring proof of business-use coverage and coverage/limits provided to be at least the same as the company.
- All drivers are properly licensed and qualified.
- All insurances and driver qualifications are monitored on an annual basis.
Risk improvement ideas
- Develop and implement a documented process/policy which addresses requirements for business use insurance coverage/limits, driver qualifications, licence and driving record checks and an annual review process of all time-sensitive documents.
- Provide proactive driver training, knowledge testing, skills assessment and qualification standards for all drivers, including family members who are to be permitted to drive company vehicles.
- Perform comprehensive, regular loss analysis for root cause and provide timely driver intervention and/or retraining based on findings.
- Ensure that there is no business use of employees personal vehicles.
- If financial payments are made in lieu of supplying a company vehicle, ensure that the employee provides adequate proof of business use insurance for their vehicle annually.
Resources
The region which we normally drive in is familiar to us. When we drive in foreign regions however, these familiarities disappear, resulting in increased risks. These may include different languages, road rules, road infrastructure, road signage, even driving on the other side of the road.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Significant inter-regional travel.
- Inadequate or no procedures exist to ensure adequate training or familiarisation, for staff who have to drive on business in other regions.
- No formal policy exists that governs inter-regional travel for employees.
- No communication with employees about the risks / hazards of driving in unfamiliar territory
Positive
- No requirement for employees to drive in unfamiliar territories.
- Where driving region exposure does exist, comprehensive policies should be in place, with frequent communication to staff.
- Comprehensive familiarisation training is provided.
- If appropriate, staff in the local region should be responsible for transporting visiting staff.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a comprehensive policy covering all employees who need to drive outside of their normal region. Risks and hazards associated with driving abroad should be regularly communicated.
- Provide competency-based training to all exposed employees. This should include local rules and regulation, language issues (especially regarding road signage) and cultural differences.
- Ensure that safety is considered when choosing types of hire cars. Particular attention should be given to automatic transmission if the employee is only familiar with manual transmission, or vice versa. Also, consider providing Global Positioning Systems for unfamiliar territory.
Vehicle Risk Factors
The age of the fleet (and privately-owned vehicles used by employees for work-related journeys), as well as the replacement policy / period, influence the likelihood that the vehicle will suffer a malfunction as it gets older. This increases the risk of a collision occurring.
Older vehicles will not include many of the enhanced safety devices now available as standard. With constant technological improvements, even vehicles a few years old may not have the latest safety features.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Many vehicles on the fleet are over five-years old.
- There are no policies in place to manage vehicle age and replacement.
- There is a policy, but it allows vehicles aged over four years.
- Privately-owned vehicles used for business purposes are not subject to the same (or any) policies.
Positive
- Three-year or 90,000 kms/miles replacement cycles are considered ‘frequent’.
- Private vehicles used on company business are subject to the same age and replacement policies.
- No vehicle over three years old is in use.
- The policy has been clearly communicated to all employees.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a clear policy on the maximum age and mileage of all vehicles, including those privately-owned ones used for business purposes.
- Ensure that the policy is clearly communicated and understood by all employees.
- Move towards shorter replacement times / lower mileages, aiming for the best practice of replacing vehicles before they reach 3 years old or 90,000 kms/miles.
- Ensure that all privately-owned vehicles used for work-related journeys are subject to the same policies and procedures to ensure consistency.
Collision avoidance features are designed to reduce the likelihood of a vehicle collision, and injury to occupants.
Survivability features are designed to protect the vehicle occupants when a collision occurs.
When purchasing company vehicles, you need to consider both aspects to reduce vehicle damage and increase vehicle occupant safety.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Company vehicles are purchased on purely economic grounds, with no consideration for safety.
- The company does not stipulate basic features such as ABS brakes.
- There are vehicles in use with poor (<3*) EuroNCAP (or similar) ratings.
- High safety equipment is not provided for employees, such as emergency and first aid items.
Positive
- All vehicles, including privately-owned ones used for work-related journeys, are 4-5* EuroNCAP (or regional equivalent).
- All vehicles are fitted with ABS, traction control and a high-level brake light as a minimum.
- The company has a detailed minimum specification policy of safety equipment required on all vehicles. This policy is reviewed periodically as and when technology progresses.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a policy specifying the minimum safety features that vehicles must have before they can be used for work-related journeys. For those employees who choose a cash payment instead of a company vehicle, suitable guidance should be provided on safety features for the vehicle they choose to purchase and use for company use. At a minimum, this should include ABS, traction control and a high-level brake light.
- Ensure the policy is periodically reviewed to consider other technological advances in car and vehicle occupant safety.
- If there is a wide choice in the country of operation, ensure all vehicles achieve a minimum 4* EuroNCAP (or equivalent) rating.
- Provide additional safety equipment to all employees – e.g. fluorescent jackets, life hammer, tyre tread-depth and pressure gauges etc.
Resources
Goods and samples carried in vehicles can pose a liability exposure if they are considered hazardous and a damage exposure if they are considered valuable to ‘would-be’ thieves.
Whilst hazardous goods and attractive items determine the exposure level, it is not until the procedures (if any) for stowage and securement are considered that the risk can be determined.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Significant quantities of hazardous (e.g. flammables), attractive (e.g. electronic goods / cash) or fragile (e.g. loose packed crystal) goods carried in vehicles.
- Lacking procedures and/or training in load securement, stowage and handling of hazardous, attractive and/or fragile goods (including mobile phones and laptop computers).
- Significant loss history of goods thefts or liabilities.
- Vehicles without security alarm systems.
Positive
- Only minor / insignificant quantities of hazardous, attractive or fragile goods carried.
- Documented procedures and competency-based training systems in load securement, stowage and handling of hazardous, attractive and/or fragile goods.
- Negligible loss history of goods thefts or liabilities.
- Security alarms fitted to vehicles.
Risk improvement ideas
- Develop procedures and train (and test) employees on load securement, stowage and handling of hazardous, attractive and/or fragile goods (including mobile phones and laptop computers).
- Ensure that vehicle security alarms are included in vehicle procurement specifications.
Routine inspection and maintenance of sedans/cars and light commercial vehicles is often overlooked, as employees regard these vehicles as tools of trade. The accumulation of miles and increased wear from everyday use can cause critical component failure not experienced with personal vehicles. Simple items, such as a non-functioning brake light, can cause major collisions. Conducting inspections only at regular maintenance intervals is inadequate. Maintenance should be triggered by driver inspections reports as well as routine cycles.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Maintenance cycles are irregular.
- Maintenance relies exclusively upon the diligence of the drivers.
- Vehicles are not subject to regular routine checks and servicing.
- Drivers are not held accountable for daily vehicle inspections.
- Vehicle breakdowns are common, and the loss history of the fleet indicates that mechanical defects contribute to collisions.
Positive
- A policy exists that requires all employees to carry out routine safety checks.
- All vehicles are serviced by the manufacturers’ agent (OEM) in line with recommended intervals.
- Vehicle documents are audited to check that they have been serviced appropriately.
- Regular safe driving communications to remind staff of the importance of timely servicing.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a documented policy ensuring that vehicles are serviced in line with manufacturers’ recommended intervals. This policy should apply to all drivers who have custody of company vehicles.
- Periodically audit vehicle documents to ensure this policy is adhered to.
- Provide training & guidance to staff on safety-based vehicle inspections. This should include, as a minimum, fuel, oil, water, electrics (lights etc), rubber (tyres & windscreen wipers) and ideally be conducted daily.
- Ensure a delegated employee conducts regular inspections and organises servicing for vehicles that are not assigned to individual employees (eg, pool cars).
Driver Risk Factors
Experience comes with maturity. Driver maturity and health can directly affect driving ability, and directly contribute to collisions. Although statistics show young drivers incur more losses, in most cases medical impairments such as poor eyesight, hearing and cardiovascular health increase with age. Many of these may already exist as pre-existing ailments unknown to the individual. If employee health is not proactively addressed and monitored on an ongoing basis then these medical conditions may degenerate, and if undetected, can contribute to motor vehicle losses.
What do we look for?
Negative
- A large proportion of mature age or young/inexperienced drivers.
- No ongoing (or too infrequent) monitoring of driver health (other than pre-employment medical examinations).
- Inadequate scope of medical examinations (e.g. only evaluate hearing or eyesight).
Positive
- A small proportion of mature age or young / inexperienced drivers.
- Medical examinations are conducted at least every 2 – 3 years for all drivers (annually for mature age drivers or those with pre-existing ailments).
- Medical examinations are conducted by a medical practitioner (or nurse practitioner) and cover hearing, eyesight, blood pressure / cardiograph and blood analysis (diabetes, cholesterol, drug and alcohol).
Risk improvement ideas
- Structure your medical examination program so that all drivers are tested at least every 2- 3 years with annual tests for mature age drivers or those with pre-existing ailments.
- Ensure that medical examinations are conducted by a company appointed medical practitioner (or nurse practitioner) and cover hearing, eyesight, blood pressure / cardiograph and blood analysis (diabetes, cholesterol, drug and alcohol) as a minimum.
- Provide an active health management program (e.g. ongoing education on nutrition and exercise) for all employees.
Home-based or remote employees who have infrequent physical contact with management are not subjected to the same level of supervision as workplace-based staff. This could increase the chance of poorer standards of vehicle care and maintenance. The lack of supervision can result in other conditions such as work-related stress, fatigue and isolation. Remote workers may be subject to additional safety related risks, particularly in the aftermath of a serious incident.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Significant numbers of remote staff with little or no contact or supervision.
- Lack of adequate communication between remote staff and their supervisors.
- No formal periodic reviews of remote staff.
Positive
- Regular formal reviews of remote staff (particularly work load).
- Visual review of remotely based vehicles, with consistent maintenance management.
- Procedures to ensure regular communication with employees who are working alone/remote.
- Provide additional safety items for remote workers, such as GPS or telematics to monitor remote workers.
Risk improvement ideas
- Provide staff who work remotely with specific training or guidance on what to do in an emergency when working alone. Ensure that Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems encompass remote workers.
- Provide remote workers with adequate safety equipment.
- Ensure regular verbal and visual communication with remote workers, and inspection of vehicles.
- Establish adequate preventative maintenance programs, particularly for remotely located vehicles.
- Consider the increased work-load and fatigue exposures of remote workers, who often may be required to drive long distance. Consider alternative forms of transport (public transport, flights etc) when remote workers have to travel long distance to visit office locations in metropolitan area.
Driver turnover refers to the number of driver changes caused by inability to retain staff for whatever reason. Turnover amongst drivers increases exposure to collisions, through lack of familiarity with equipment, routes and job function. It also increases the cost of recruitment and training, as well as the more indirect costs of inefficient service to customers. One of the more common causes is remuneration, or payment. Therefore, ‘attractive’ pay and conditions for the job function is considered necessary.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Very high staff turnover i.e. >20% per annum.
- There is a direct link between high turnover and below average remuneration for the job function.
- No remuneration is provided exclusively on the basis of commission.
- Performance/sales targets are unrealistic.
Positive
- Driver turnover is minimal i.e. <10% per annum.
- Payment provided is based on a fixed salary and includes a full benefits package.
- Management regularly review turnover, compensation, benefits package, vacation policy, work conditions etc.
Risk improvement ideas
- Management systems include the need to regularly review turnover, compensation, benefits package, vacation policy, work conditions, etc.
- Conduct exit interviews with all drivers who may leave your employment in order to determine the reasons for leaving. Incorporate the findings, and any identified trends, in the management review processes relating to the turnover issue.
- Where commission-based drivers are employed, those rates of compensation should be realistic and attainable.
- Performance and sales targets should be realistic, and not cause undue pressure on staff.
The extent of control exercised in the employee recruitment process effectively determines the starting capabilities (i.e. how aware / skilled / trainable) for all new drivers.
If employee recruitment is neglected or poorly controlled, an undesirable influx of drivers with poor loss histories, low awareness levels and / or bad attitudes may creep into your organisation resulting in increased motor vehicle losses.
What do we look for?
Negative
- A lack of targeted recruitment profiles (e.g. source of contact, license requirements, number of years’ experience).
- No consideration of previous driving performance.
- Aptitude, behavioural, theory & practical testing is lacking.
- Medical health is not considered in the recruitment process.
Positive
- Clearly defined desired employee profiles are established.
- Previous driving loss history of the applicant is investigated with ‘cut-off criteria’ established.
- At least one of aptitude, behavioural, theory, awareness, practical testing is conducted at pre-employment.
- Medical health is at least declared by the applicant but ideally assessed by the organisation at pre-employment.
Risk improvement ideas
- Develop a targeted recruitment profile for all new employees with regards to:
- Source of recruitment (e.g. word of mouth, referrals, advertisements, etc).
- Background profile (e.g. type of industry, years of driving experience, type of vehicle, familiarity with region).
- License requirements (e.g. endorsements).
- Application forms and interviews should be completed by applicants in your office (e.g. face-to-face) to ensure basic literacy and numeracy skills.
- The previous loss history of the applicant should be investigated via reference checks, declaration forms and license points checks.
- Driver awareness testing should be conducted (as a minimum) for all applicants.
- Medical assessments that (as a minimum) evaluate eyesight, hearing and blood / urine analysis (e.g. blood pressure, diabetes, drugs and alcohol) should be conducted for all applicants
Resources
Site Risk Factors
Protection for vehicles against fire, theft and vandalism when parked on premises is an important consideration as this is one of the rare instances where your motor fleet may be exposed to multiple vehicle losses (and hence major financial loss) in a single event.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Significant fire hazard presented by proximity to either hazardous or combustible materials.
- No Fire Department available, or response time is in excess of 15 minutes.
- Speedy removal of vehicles in the event of fire is difficult and/or vehicles are parked unattended on a public street.
- High concentration of equipment / values at one location.
- High frequency of damage from fire or theft incidents on site.
Positive
- Fire Department response time is less than five minutes.
- Adequate water supply (hydrants, etc) onsite.
- On site security provided 24/7.
- Staff have received extensive training in fire prevention, safety procedures in the event of fire and/or fire fighting.
- Vehicles are equipped with satellite tracking and/or recovery units. Regular inspection and maintenance of these units by a certified contractor.
Risk improvement ideas
- Ensure that assigned parking areas are not in proximity to storage or manufacture of dangerous and/or combustible materials.
- Develop emergency procedures for fire response and ensure that all drivers/staff have received appropriate training. These procedures should address fire prevention, use of fire extinguishers and appropriate fire fighting techniques (if appropriate).
- Equip vehicles with satellite tracking/recovery units and ensure that regular inspection and maintenance of the units is provided.
- Designated onsite parking areas should be fenced, gated and manned by 24/7 security.
Parking related losses (such as low speed manoeuvring, reversing and malicious damage) on and off workplace premises typically account for a large proportion of motor fleet losses. The contributing causes range from no safe guidance, unclear procedures, poorly designed parking facilities and driver negligence. Fleet operators should be aware that there are tools available to control these seemingly 'unavoidable' losses.
What do we look for?
Negative
- No parking facilities provided. Vehicles may be parked on street.
- Insufficient parking facilities and no attention to safety or security.
- Congested facility provided, liable to increase exposure to collision. Parking surface may also be in poor state of repair.
- Frequency of loss activity in parking lots when parking, manoeuvring, or exiting.
Positive
- Detailed procedures exist which provide guidelines on vehicle parking practices. These will also extend to include off-site and/or parking at home.
- Fully secured parking area provided with assigned parking spaces for each driver.
- Designated traffic flow direction in parking areas (and throughout premises).
- No previous loss history resulting from poor, or congested, parking.
Risk improvement ideas
- Ensure that adequate parking areas are provided for vehicles, extending to include assigned parking spaces and designated traffic flow throughout these areas.
- Develop parking guidelines e.g. minimize reversing, but encourage reverse parking instead of reversing when exiting car parking spaces. Reverse parking encourages driver to take more care, and be aware of their surroundings. Reversing out of exits usually creates unnecessary blind spots.
- Provide education to drivers/staff, and issue written policy.
- Provide guidelines to drivers regarding parking off site and require drivers to park in secured areas when vehicles are taken home. Document Company policy.
- Provide parking instruction and training to all drivers and staff on a regular periodic basis.
Management Controls
The loss history for a motor vehicle fleet is a good general indicator of the level of motor vehicle risk management, or good fortune, that an organisation has developed.
The rate or frequency of vehicle losses reflects the likelihood of the incidents occurring, and the average cost of these losses reflects the severity of these incidents.
What do we look for?
Negative
- High frequency (>20% of fleet per annum) of motor vehicle losses.
- High severity (>US$5k average cost) of motor vehicle losses.
- High frequency of driver at fault motor vehicle losses.
- No tracking / monitoring of motor fleet loss history at a management / organisational level.
Positive
- Low frequency (<20% of fleet per annum) of motor vehicle losses.
- Low severity (<US$5k average cost) of motor vehicle losses.
- Low frequency of driver at fault motor vehicle losses.
- Well established tracking / monitoring of motor fleet loss history at a management / organisational level.
Risk improvement ideas
Establish tracking / monitoring of motor fleet loss history at a management / organisational level (i.e. for individual business units as well as the total organisation). As a start, key performance indicators to monitor are;
- Loss frequency (total number of losses per total number of vehicles in the fleet per annum).
- Average cost of loss (total cost of all losses divided by the total number of losses per annum).
- Driver at fault frequency (total number of driver at fault losses per total number of losses per annum).
- ‘Repeat offender’ losses (individual drivers with more than one loss over a rolling five-year period).
For higher levels of tracking / monitoring all of these performance indicators should also consider kilometres / miles driven.
As with all other aspects of employee safety, fleet risk management systems, policies and procedures will help create a safe driving culture, as well as provide the basics for training, communication and accountability throughout the organisation. These systems, policies and procedures will require periodic review to remain current and effective.
What do we look for?
Negative
- No, or uncoordinated safety management policies and procedures for work-related driving.
- No Driver Safety Handbook.
- No specific vehicle preventative maintenance management.
- Ineffective or no incident reporting procedures.
- No risk specific guidance, policies or procedures, such as Drug/Alcohol Policy, Mobile Phone Use.
Positive
- Driving risks are included in Occupational Health and Safety Management and Committee Meetings.
- Driving related policies and procedures are established.
- Formal reviews take place periodically on driving-related safety policies and procedures.
- Regular reports to the Board on safety matters, including driving risks.
Risk improvement ideas
- Establish driving-specific Safety Policies and Procedures, such as Mobile Phone Use, Fatigue Management, Drug/alcohol Policy etc.
- Periodically review all driving related safety policies and procedures.
- Ensure that driving safety is embedded within all other aspects of Occupational Health and Safety, such as committee meetings, reports to the Board, toolbox talks, safety communications to staff etc.
- Provide staff who drive with a useful Driver Safety Handbook.
Resources
Management expertise sets the tone for correct driver behaviours that reduce risk. Management must be accountable, have the expertise and resources, as well as a company structure of policies/procedures to establish a culture of safe operating expectations.
A robust quality assurance system tends to ensure continuity of these controls across all business units / operations.
What do we look for?
Negative
- The Fleet Co-ordinator position is only part time or shared with another role and filled by a relatively inexperienced person provided with poor support resources (e.g. is spread too thin).
- The Fleet Co-ordinator position merely manages assets and is not actively responsible for improving the motor vehicle loss performance.
- A quality assurance system is not established or has only part sub-systems established.
Positive
- A dedicated, experienced Fleet Risk Manager is appointed with appropriate support staff. These support positions are filled by people with good knowledge of day to day operations.
- The Fleet Risk Manager is ‘actively’ responsible for improving the loss performance of the fleet and does not just liaise between the company and the insurer.
- ISO 9000 (or equivalent) QA system is established with regular internal / external audits and external certification.
Risk improvement ideas
- Irrespective of the title, ensure that the person responsible for the motor fleet activities is experienced in various motor fleet controls and tools (and if necessary given the business size, supported by staff with good knowledge of day to day operations). This person should be made ‘actively’ responsible for improving the loss performance of the fleet and not just liaising between the company and the insurer.
- Establish a rigorous quality assurance system across all operations of your business with regular internal / external audits and external certification.
Fleet Performance Management involves regular reviews of incidents involving work vehicles, and evaluating incident reduction measures. It incorporates a number of risk management techniques and procedures, ranging from loss reduction targets, incident investigations, analysis of incidents data and statistics, management of insurance, and specific driving related performance indicators. The Board should also be made 'intimately aware' of the fleet loss performance and actively promote incident prevention controls.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Fleet Performance Management is only insurance premium-based.
- No, or infrequent reviews of claims/loss/incident statistics and data.
- No specific targets to reduce numbers of incidents.
- Disjointed approach to managing the fleet from a safety perspective.
Positive
- Regular reviews of crash data, with reports submitted to the Board or senior management.
- Cascaded responsibilities to departments or regions within the organisation.
- Higher 'self-insurance' e.g., higher excesses which encourages better internal incident prevention.
- Employee performance indicators and objectives include driving safety.
Risk improvement ideas
- Establish regular reviews of claims data with your insurance broker, as well as non-insurance related crash data to establish trends, and identify suitable intervention measures.
- Seek approval from the Board, and submit analysis reports of a periodic basis.
- Involves the skills of senior departmental management, Safety Officers and Fleet/Maintenance Managers in employee performance objectives and reviews.
- Encourage a suitable culture within the organisation to promote crash avoidance. Establish targeted loss reduction.
- Review your organisations 'risk appetite' and review deductibles/excess, insurance cover etc.
In order to adequately risk manage fatigue related hazards, fatigue monitoring and training programs need to address both ‘work related’ and ‘away from work’ fatigue issues.
The greater the fatigue exposure in your operations, the more comprehensive these fatigue controls should be.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Only reactive fatigue controls established that typically follow legislative compliance or major loss.
- Lacking or poor systems established for either continuously or periodically monitoring fatigue in drivers.
- Very little training / information on fatigue provided for drivers.
Positive
- Proactive fatigue controls are established in advance of legislative compliance or major loss.
- Fatigue training programs are formally established and applied consistently across all operations of the organisation.
- Fatigue monitoring systems are established and applied consistently across all operations of the organisation.
Risk improvement ideas
- Do not rely on legislative compliance for adequate risk management of fatigue.
- Ensure that a clear and concise fatigue risk management policy is established and communicated to all new employees (drivers) at commencement.
- Ensure that hours of work (not just driving) are reviewed at least periodically (less frequently for reduced fatigue exposures and more frequently for increased fatigue exposures) and include analysis / awareness of individual daily and weekly work / rest periods with trigger points established for increased controls at maximum acceptable work durations (e.g. more breaks or simpler tasks at extended hours). Consideration should also be given to away from work / quality of sleep aspects.
- Fatigue training programs should be provided (especially for increased exposure drivers) that suitably cover time of day, duration of work, sleep quality, health, diet, social rhythms, etc – they should not merely focus on the work aspects of fatigue.
Resources
Incidents (losses and near misses) are unique in that they provide us with real-life opportunities to learn from our mistakes. Hence, incident investigation is critical in identifying causes of incidents, developing corrective actions and preventing reoccurrence.
However, incident investigation will prove fruitless unless the data gathered via incident reporting is accurate.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Reporting tools are lacking (e.g. no prompts, forms, cameras or on-board data systems provided in vehicles).
- Incident investigations focus entirely on insurance aspects and do not identify causes, determine preventability or develop corrective actions.
- Management reporting of overall motor fleet loss performance is inconsistent.
Positive
- Incident prompt cards or report forms, cameras or on-board data systems are provided in vehicles.
- Incident investigations are focussed on preventing reoccurrence and identify causes, determine preventability and develop corrective actions that are subsequently implemented.
- Management reviews of overall motor fleet loss performance are regularly and frequently conducted.
Risk improvement ideas
- Ensure that incident prompt cards or report forms are provided in all vehicles with all drivers informed of their use at induction.
- Ensure that an incident investigation form is established to facilitate these investigations with specific sections dedicated to causal analysis, preventability, corrective actions and follow up.
- Ensure that responsibility for facilitation of the incident investigation system is clearly appointed.
- Ensure that the Fleet Manager (or equivalent) conducts the investigation for all major crashes (with clear delineation of major and minor crashes).
- Provide training in incident investigation and root cause analysis (or equivalent) for the staff that will be conducting investigations.
- Share incident investigation reports and corrective actions with all drivers via team meetings.
- Include motor fleet loss performance reviews / reports in monthly management meetings.
Malicious damage and theft of vehicles or their contents can be expensive, time consuming and cause disruption to normal business activities.
It is therefore important for companies to have structured security management policies and procedures in place.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Company vehicle purchasing policy does not take into account the risk of theft.
- Carriage of attractive contents and/or samples.
- Depots or offices without adequate car park security measures.
- Significant numbers of vehicles operating, or parked in high crime rate areas.
Positive
- Consideration of factory fitted and retrospectively fitted security devices when ordering company vehicles.
- Specific vehicle security management policies and procedures.
- Good security arrangements at main company locations.
- Provide advice to drivers on secure parking arrangements.
Risk improvement ideas
- Establish a security management policy, after assessing the risk of theft of or from vehicles.
- Put in place minimum security requirements when purchasing or leasing company vehicles.
- Review security arrangements at main locations, depots, offices etc with a view to protecting vehicles and staff. This may include fencing, access barriers, lighting etc.
- Provide company policies, advice and recommendations to drivers regarding safe and secure parking when on business and when parking at home.
Resources
The use and abuse of banned substances (e.g. heroin, cocaine, amphetamines) and/or alcohol has a very serious, negative effect on the safe operation of vehicles and equipment. The use of some prescription or 'over the counter' medication can have similar results.
Failure to incorporate policy, education and monitoring for substance use / abuse into your risk management program will leave your motor fleet operations seriously exposed to the risk of human impairment.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Management have no awareness or interest in the affects of drug and/or alcohol use.
- There is evidence of substance abuse among drivers/employees but no remedial actions have been taken.
- There is a history of substance abuse related collisions.
- Where testing programs are required by law, the program is non-compliant.
Positive
- A drug and alcohol testing programme is established irrespective of legal requirements for such a program.
- All employees have been provided with information and training on drug and alcohol issues.
- The program recognizes the effects of prescription and 'over the counter' medication within the scope of the program.
- Rehabilitation assistance and guidance is included in the program.
Risk improvement ideas
- Be aware of any legal requirements for drug and alcohol testing and ensure that your operation is compliant.
- Recognise the effects of banned substances, alcohol, prescription medicines and 'over the counter' medication upon all employees, especially those in safety sensitive positions e.g. drivers, mechanics, equipment operators, etc.
- Develop a testing and training/education program to ensure that all employees are knowledgeable on the issues and can recognize symptoms of the use of drugs and/or alcohol.
- Ensure that your program is fully documented, closely monitored and controlled.
- Include within your program, the resource ability to provide assistance to employees who are identified as having used drugs and/or alcohol.
- Remind employees of the risks associated with driving the 'morning after'.
We all assume that we can drive well, but it's a skill that is earned through experience. Unfortunately, bad habits may also develop in our driving skills. A small percentage of drivers are responsible for a large percentage of collisions. Most of these drivers exhibit poor driving behaviour long before the crashes occur.
It is important that companies ascertain the levels of hazard perception, behaviour and driving knowledge of their employees. If these levels are poor, and therefore a high risk, consideration should be given to defensive driver training, or specialised training for specific driving risks.
What do we look for?
Negative
- No formal assessment of driver attitude, hazard perception, knowledge or behaviour.
- No training for drivers who are deemed to be a 'high risk'.
- No recognition of inherent risks that require specialised training, such as remote working, off-road driving etc.
Positive
- Formal recruitment procedures that include computer-based, classroom, written or practical assessment of an employees driving habits and knowledge.
- Ongoing/periodic reviews of drivers’ habits & knowledge, either by reviewing incident statistics, or repeat assessments.
- Management policies and procedures are introduced based on risk assessments.
- Formal training programs for high risk drivers.
Risk improvement ideas
- Establish formal driver assessment programs for recruitment procedures, and ongoing, periodic assessment. Risk assessments should concentrate on the driver, the vehicle and the journey.
- Establish management interventions, and provide driver training for those drivers that have been identified as high risk by incident reviews/records, their driving profile, assessments, or by a combination of these.
- Training can take many forms, each of which have a different period of efficacy, so ensure that records of driver training are kept up-to-date, and repeat training is provided where necessary.
Resources
According to research, drivers who use mobile phones when driving, irrespective of hands-free devices, are up to four times more likely to be involved in a collision. Some studies have equated using a mobile phone to being twice over the legal drink drive limit.
In many countries, using a mobile phone ‘to your ear’ when driving is prohibited by law, but there have been cases where the police have prosecuted drivers when ‘hands-free’, by other road traffic legislation, citing ‘unsafe driving’ as the offence.
What do we look for?
Negative
- Use of mobile phones when driving is not controlled, or left to drivers discretion.
- A policy exists but is never audited to check compliance.
- Employees have not been informed about the dangers of using any mobile device when driving.
Positive
- All mobile devices are not allowed to be used by employees when driving, including hands-free. This policy is enforced by regular auditing.
- Education has been provided to highlight the dangers of using a phone/device when driving.
- There are disciplinary procedures for breaches of this policy.
Risk improvement ideas
- Implement a graduated phase out of mobile phone use when driving. Use the following as a guide:
- Ensure hand-held phones are not allowed.
- Prevent outgoing calls being made.
- Encourage employees to keep incoming calls short and tell the caller that they are driving.
- Stop all phone use when driving. Ensure voicemail / office support is set up.
- Create a specific mobile phone policy, and link this to the work-related road risk management policy.
- Provide awareness training to ensure employees are aware of the dangers of using any mobile device when driving.
- Ensure that mobile phone dangers are regularly highlighted in all safety communications.
- Carry out regular audits to ensure compliance with the policy.