Could YOU be a safety champion

Companies that have implemented programmes to cut road deaths and injuries in crashes involving their car and van drivers are to be used by the Government in a major new initiative to encourage other businesses to take pro-active action.

The Driving for Work Business Champions Programme is beingmanaged by RoadSafe on behalf of the Department for Transport and the campaign initially focuses on the rapidly expanding home delivery market.

From July the programme, which is expected to run until mid-2009, will go national and will focus on other business markets, including the public and voluntary sectors.

In announcing the rolling-out of the initiative, Road Safety Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman said: "The programme aims to spread advice and good practice and will encourage business leaders to communicate directly with fellow employers about the benefits of managing work-related road safety."

The newly-launched campaign is using 'Business Champions' to encourage occupational road safety measures to be implemented by more organisations operating company car and van fleets as well as those who rely on staff to use their own vehicles on work-related journeys.

The 'Business Champions' programme dovetails with the Department for Transport's new 'Driving for Work' campaign, which has been launched under the well-established Think! programme and initially focuses on van drivers.

RoadSafe director Adrian Walsh said cutting the toll of crashes involving at-work drivers - it is estimated 200 fatalities and serious injuries a week involve someone at work - had been on the Government's agenda since the Work-related Road Safety Task Group reported six years ago.

However, he said: "Despite the reams of publicity and calls for action from many different safety-focused organisations the vast majority of companies continue to turn a blind eye to improving the road safety of their employees and other road users.

"By establishing a network of road safety at work champions, who will include company directors and fleet operators with a proven record of promoting occupational road risk management in their businesses, we believe those organisations that have so far turned a blind eye to the issue will respond.

"The 'Business Champions' campaign targets companies and the Think! campaign is focused on influencing driver behaviour. By taking action to change habits of both employers and employees we hope to see a significant reduction in the UK's road casualty figures."

Every company that has implemented an occupational road risk management policy has reaped numerous benefits - financial and moral - as well as making themselves legally compliant.

Mr Walsh said: "Business leaders who have developed and seen the benefi ts of best practice policies such as significantly reducefleet operating costs, reduced insurance premiums and improved staff morale will be going out into the community to encourage other organisations to wake-up and adopt similar proposals."

GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services has calculated that a typical 750-vehicle fleet has 300 incidents a year at an average cost of £875, an outlay of £262,500.

John Kelly, the leasing and fleet management company's Key Solutions leader, said: "That is basic vehicle repair cost. It is generally accepted that the true cost of a road incident is on average four times base cost. Yet intervention to ensure drivers comply with employer duty of care would cost the corporate approximately £110,000.

"The break-even point to recover these costs would be around a 23% reduction in accidents, which is well in line with GE's customer experience following implementation of duty of care programme."

'Business Champions' are in the process of being recruited and they will initially come from the parcel delivery and grocery delivery sectors with improving road safety among home delivery drivers being the first target.

Mr Walsh said: "Some companies have very robust procedures in place and are particularly focused on driver ability at the job recruitment stage.

"Given the explosion in demand for van drivers as a result of the boom in internet shopping it is important that employers focus on driving ability and do not simply assume that being in possession of a driving license is a guarantee of ability.

"We believe our 'Business Champions' strategy will result in a dramatic increase in the number of companies driving for better business."

<< Back to contents page

• < previous article
• |
• next article >