Why Your Company Should Read This Guide

In February 2011 the first company in Great Britain was convicted of corporate manslaughter, under the then comparatively New Act. The case of 27 year old Alex Wright, a geologist who died in a trench in 2008, while employed by Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings made history. Whatever type of company you run this is not the type of history you wish to make, no doubt. This article is the first in a series to assist companies to focus on improving fleet safety by adopting a fleet insurance company initiative-the Heightened Awareness Driving (H.A.D.) Safety Program. Even before the launch of the H.A.D. Safety Program, quite a number of organisations have been taking action to improve how their employees are driving for work with a strong focus on training company drivers. Success for such a program has been found to be directly linked to the methods used to select drivers. Additionally like training of any nature, repetition and frequency are vital ingredients.

Lets Look At Some Fleet Safety Data 90% of incidents are as a result of human error and safety initiatives need to be consistently sustained in which they are required to involve change of culture in order to ensure that improved behaviours are consistently maintained. Organisations are mandated to take reasonable and practical steps that will assist them to manage safe driving habits whereby failure to follow this may result in tough penalties with exorbitant fines, custodial sentences for executives & employees, and negative publicity for the organization. Due to the magnitude of reckless driving, the government has placed responsibility on the business owners and its executives to find ways of improving on their employees road safety. Organisations are also required to undertake fleet insurance. Despite road transport safety improvement technologies over the previous year, driving for work has been cited as one of the most dangerous activities an individual can undertake as part of their daily office duties whereby driving for work has claimed approximately 75% of workplace related deaths annually.Last year alone 28,000 people died and 40,000 were seriously injured on British roads. Of these statistics, 33% of these incidents involved individuals driving for work. Apart from the highly tragic results of these incidents, they also had an economic impact which has been estimated at a cost to the economy of 1.6bn every year.

Where Can We Begin To Resolve These Serious Fleet Safety Issues? Driving for work is by its nature a very complex subject, which is best split into 3 different aspects in order to tackle it: Journey Vehicle Driver Each of these areas has to be properly managed and this challenge can be assisted by following the H.A.D. Safety Program, which can make your job somewhat easier. Fleet And Company Legal Responsibilities Organisations that have employees driving for them have a number of abiding responsibilities

which they are required to undertake in addition to duties that employers are mandated under road traffic acts administered by the police and VOSA. There are some specific requirements binding the professional drivers such as those driving passenger vehicles and large goods vehicles. This series of articles is going to dwell on regulations that bind non-professional drivers like the: Own vehicle driver Company van driver (Below 3.5 tones) Company car drivers

How Following This Guide Will Help Reduce Fleet Costs

SAFETY REGULATIONS The Government now includes vehicles, used for work reasons, as part of the workplace. It is now required to ensure that others are not put ask risk by the usage of work vehicles. The Health and Safety Act of 1974, states that you must ensure the safety and health of your employees are not put at risk as far as reasonably possible. Periodic risk assessments and review of activities are also required by health and safety regulations passed in 1999. These activities include driving for work purposes, but not driving to or from work. The exception would be if you had to drive to a different location than normal to get to work. NEGLIGENCE Negligence is whereby the actions or conduct fall below the standards written in the law concerning safety against unreasonable risks. Under the law, concerning negligence, there is manslaughter and homicide Act 2007. By this act a corporate body in England and Wales may be prosecuted for Manslaughter; likewise, a corporation in Scotland may be prosecuted for Homicide. For a successful prosecution, a gross breach of these safety regulations is required. It must then be proved that cause of death was influenced by a gross breach. This breach is normally normally due to the way that the company or organization is managed and organized on an executive or administrative level. PENALTIES & SENTENCING Under the laws concerning negligence a sentence can result in large fines for both the company and the directors and up to 2 year custodial sentences. The large fines are likely to be greater than 500k. Furthermore, it is now possible for the courts to make publicity orders, whereby the company or organization is forced to reveal the offending breach of conduct, which could be devastating for company image. H.A.D. (Heightened Awareness Driving) H.A.D. (Heightened Awareness Driving) can offer your organisation the tools it need to stay on the right side of the law. While many benefits are offered, some are more measurable than others. A few of the benefits include: Reduced costs; improvement in driving standards plus fuel costs and repairs Less working days wasted due to injury and sickness Reduced risk of illness related to work Reduced stress in workplace A happier team Better service and fewer missed customer orders Prioritised coaching interventions and training Assure protection against brand damage caused by poor safety procedures Improve driving standard sets a good model for others Supports social responsibilities and a clean environment The H.A.D (Heightened Awareness Driving) for fleet management, safety and fleet insurance reasons is designed to help you to unlock these benefits and to stay on the right side of the law.

How You Can Get Started

Follow the Cover 4 Fleet Insurance simple instructions outlined here to increase the safety awareness amongst the fleet drivers and management. Although theHeightened Awareness Driving (H.A.D.) has been developed by this UK fleet insurance company, it is not for insurance purposes, but to help you strengthen the fleet risk management and safety policies.

Making Your Heightened Awareness Driving Fleet Policy The Health and Safety Executives guidelines are that in every organisation that employs six people or more should possess a written policy regarding safety when Driving For Work. The policy is a fundamental part of risk management, points the proper way for employees to act, and is a crucial part of the driving at work culture. It is an excellent point to begin. The Policy It should not just be an unclear statement of intent; it should state clearly the conditions regarding working in your business. It should also incorporate your policy on areas of danger for Driving for Work. This can include the following: -Your companys goals regarding Driver Risk Management. - Policies Statement Regarding Being Safe on the Road -Things Drivers are Responsible For -Driver Fatigue Statement and Help -Trip and Destination Planning -Insurance Policies -Avoiding cell phones and other things that may distract you policy -Drug and Alcohol Policy

Driver Training Regardless of whether a person, business, or other organisation completes a fleet driver training course, the results impact those who have not been directly associated with it. Programs result in drivers knowing their responsibilities better and how this can influence the people they work for. This is shown via enhanced driving methods, improved behaviors, and a better attitude. An improved look at road safety and driving by individuals will result in the company being better viewed by the public, saving on operational costs, and protecting both people and company property.

And of course the lives and health of the driver, passengers, and other people on the road are safeguarded more as well. Besides the benefit given by safety companies will see a lowering of fuel expenses, vehicle incidents, down time, and insurance rates. The advantages of fleet driving programs often reach far beyond just the business, as the information is passed on to their families and friends. Everybody involved will be better off after this decision is made.

Fleet Driver Risk Management

When a company has a fleet of vehicles that employees use with business related practices there is a responsibility the company has toward the employees. They need to have practice in operation called the Fleet Driver Risk Management process. This will clearly define all safety rules especially concerning over the road safety for the employee. The person chosen to be the fleet driver risk manager should be fully aware of all government regulations concerning health and safety and all laws governing the roadways.

Risk Management Practice When someone is managing a Fleet Driver Risk Management they should coordinate with other risk management processes in the company and work closely with the safety guidelines in other areas. When a company is practicing good safety structures that have been previously set up company-wide it will make it easier to expand this structure to the fleet management. Enforcing the Safety Measures When enforcing the safety measures in a company it is important to be constantly teaching them. You cannot expect the rules and regulations to be instilled in employees with one safety meeting and no reminders, especially when it comes to Fleet Driver Risk Management. Once a month meetings should be planned to discuss safety. Rewards are another good way to instill safety in the drivers, everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done. You should speak to the employees in down to earth language to so they can understand what you are teaching better. Along with rewards the opposite is true for rule breakers. In most instances there is usually one that does not want to follow the rules and they should be dealt with immediately to prevent costs to the company. When owning a fleet of vehicles in a company there are many costs that can escalate if you do not have a Fleet Driver Risk Management process in place. Accidents can drive insurance costs skyward, replacing vehicles can become an astronomical cost and injuries to the drivers can basically break the company bank. Being prepared for the unexpected is a good rule of thumb. Instilling health and safety including road safety to your employees is a vital practice to have. For a competitive quote go to find out more about commercial fleet insurance now.

Getting A System In Place

The Heightened Awareness Driving (H.A.D.) initiative has been developed by Cover 4 Fleet Insurance, the UK fleet insurance company, to help management and drivers in companies to reinforce and build up excellent fleet safety and driving practices. To manage work-related fleet safety issues and road safety activities an organisation needs a proper fleet safety system in place. The system should be able to provide ways to manage and identify all of the risks and also allow checking of the audit records. The system should provide methods to analyse, record and gather information related to vehicle history, details of drivers record and data about the road accidents. Fleet Safety Systems Scope The system should provide the ability to manage the main features of Driver Risk Management that has just been mentioned, i.e. Vehicle, Driver and Journey. While what is present on the fleet may be obvious, when it involves fleet vehicles, all the information related to their mileage, safety features, accident history and maintenance may not be clear. Similar data may not be available for grey fleet vehicles where personal vehicles are being provided by the employees and being used for the business. Similar to the information related to the fleet vehicles this type of data is also important. The fleet safety system should provide the required data with the assessment of the associated risks on: All fleet vehicles including the grey fleet History of accidents Road worthiness and MOT / History of maintenance History of claims/insurance Information about the driver (including the driver of the vehicle from family or friend) All the details about license, categories and endorsements held Training interventions provided All the information related to Driver Risk Management should be provided by the fleet safety system so that the right decision can be taken, avoiding the risks. Data After the data has been collected and placed in a suitable format, the next thing to do is to use it and after going through the data one should be able to reduce the risks. After checking the data, the user should be able to take the right decision about how much the existing policies are effective and if there is any requirement for change. For instance, activities of drivers who are responsible for more damage and accidents can be considered for the review. This review can check: All the planning about journey What type of roads were used and whether safe roads like Motorways may be better to use Ideas from the drivers about improving the standards Driver License checks data trends related to the conviction and endorsements history Issues related to attitudinal or behaviour Whether some differences have been noticed because of Computer Based Learning or Driver Training Want to get a quote now? Go to the Cover 4 Fleet Insurance website.

Don't Forget The Importance Of Ongoing Reviews And Enhancements

As your organisation makes the program its own, ongoing value and lessons can be found by incorporating the practice of reviewing and enhancing the Cover 4 Fleet Insurance H.A.D. program.

Follow these simple instructions to reap the benefits. Firstly your organisation needs to establish a number of well-designed implementations when assessing the fleet safety program, including: SMART S = Stretch M = Measure A = Achieve R = Realistic T = Time * Describe the return on the investment from indicated activities * Assess suppliers in terms of value to the DRM program, as well as within the normal procurement criteria * Cease and refrain from any and all further activities which are not measurable or does not add any value. There are several different variables that may increase value to the Driver Risk Management Program. It is important to remember to always reinforce good behavior, so one should consider an arrangement of gain share with each of the drivers about reducing insurance premiums. Another idea may even be considering a share of financial gain from improving fuel efficiency with the organization. Lastly, remember to assess risks and execute interventions for an employees family and friends who have access to any of the fleet vehicles. Remember to Reflect and Regroup Upon beginning this long journey, it is important to know and understand what went well, what did not go well, and what happened that was different regarding previous plans. As with all cycles of improvement, the process is constant and never completed, but it is improvable. This may take different forms such as greater returns on investments and more safety improvements. The most important part of a successful review is to ensure that the accuracy of all data, therefore gaining great measures of financial benefits and risk improvement. How to Present Savings Consider the savings from a business as both hard and soft, meaning measurable financial and less misplaced orders, respectively. For instance, if a program saves a business approximately 50k of hard savings per year with a net profit of 5%, then sales must be increased by at least 1m to ensure the same impact to the bottom line. Always remember to attain New Starters and bring them into the program. Then stop live records for leavers. (However, it is important to utilize good practice by retaining data on any leavers for no less than seven years.) Some organizations use risk assessments such as Driver Risk Management as part of the recruitment and selection process.

Update Policies As in most areas of business, this vigorous process keeps getting faster and much more difficult to sustain. Policies should always indicate what has been learned from practicing Driver Risk Management, as well as the organizations determination to continue incorporating improved Road Safety as a main mission of importance. All policies should also include any changes according to the law, as well as any technological developments, including Sat Navigation, Mobile Phones/PDAs, Active Cruise Controls or Lane Departure Warnings. For more information on fleet safety for employers the ROSPA website is also a very helpful resource.