Business champions take off

The CV Show at the NEC in Birmingham proved an ideal place to launch a new safe driving campaign aimed specifically at Britain's van drivers.

Representatives from RoadSafe joined with Mercedes-Benz on the manufacturer's stand to kick off a new safety campaign called 'Driving For Better Business', which is being supported by several major national firms including Tesco.

The new initiative, which is being managed by RoadSafe on behalf of the Department for Transport, features a series of 'business champions' forming a network of employers promoting good practice in road safety and spreading the word to other fleets about the benefits.

'Business champions' have already started speaking at industry meetings and conferences ahead of the formal winter roll-out of the campaign. It will run until 2009 and initially targets drivers of sub 3.5-tonne gvw vans.

Statistics show that every day, 150 vehicles are involved in crashes while on work-related journeys. There are more than 320,000 sub-3.5 tonne vans registered annually, and with a net increase of 170,000 per annum, this means that dangers on the road are also escalating.

Adrian Walsh, RoadSafe director, said: "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 licence is a guarantee of ability. We believe our 'business champions' strategy will result in a dramatic increase in the number of companies that adopt effective workrelated road safety policies."

Showing its commitment to safety, Mercedes-Benz, a programme founding partner, built a special Sprinter Safety Van which was displayed on the stand (see page 56). The Sprinter is already one of the safest vans on the roads, with standard equipment including a driver's airbag, ABS brakes, adaptive ESC traction control, acceleration skid control, brake assist and electronic brakeforce distribution. In addition, this van is equipped with passenger, window and thorax airbags, rear reversing camera and a host of other devices. Mercedes-Benz van marketing manager David Higson commented: “Van operators are becoming more safetyconscious all the time and as the manufacturer of the safest vans in the world, it is only appropriate that we have become one of the first supporters of the programme."

Also on the stand were two representatives of Chelmsford Electrical in Essex, which is among the first 'business champions' to step forward. The firm is already reaping benefits from adopting a safety strategy.

Company secretary Peter Locke said: "Since we adopted this policy there has been a significant drop in the cost of accidents to our firm and great savings in insurance. Our 46 vans were costing £40,000 a year in crashes and this has dropped to £4,100 after the fi rst year. Our insurance premiums have dropped from £1,100 per vehicle to £483."

Lackadaisical attitude led to launch

There are two strands to the 'Driving for Better Business' programme - company directors and fleet operators with a proven record of promoting occupational road risk management in their businesses going out into the community to encourage other organisations to wake-up and adopt similar proposals - and a trio of pilot schemes to identify the best ways to target companies (see below).

Initially the campaign focuses on the rapidly expanding home delivery market. However, in the future it will go national and will target other business sectors, including the public and voluntary segments (RoadSafe: spring 2007). The importance of the campaign is underlined with the results from a RoadSafe survey of more than 200 fleet decisionmakers attending a conference organised by BusinessCar magazine, an ACFO East Region meeting and the Mercedes Van Experience roadshow.

At the events 50% of fleet chiefs admitted to not having undertaken a work-related road safety risk assessment. Meanwhile, 92% of delegates attending the events said they supported the 'Driving for Better Business' campaign and 83% said they learned something new from the 'business champions' presentation.

RoadSafe director Adrian Walsh said: "The survey results underline the importance of the campaign in promoting occupational road risk management with half of companies saying they have not completed an at-work driving risk assessment.

Clear

"It is also clear that business leaders are looking to learn from each other.

"Initiatives that have worked in one company in terms of reducing road crashes may well work in another.

"The campaign is all about promoting and sharing best practice."

Companies with a proven safety record that have become 'business champions' so far include: Tesco.com, CGG Veritas, Pickfords, Target Express, Centrica, BSkyB, BT, Chelmsford Electrical, Maxi Haulage, Central Auto Supplies, West Bromwich Building Society and Cambridgeshire County Council.

Business champions should be able to demonstrate:

• A 'top down' commitment to managing work-related road safety, reflected in the behaviour of all employees, including directors, line managers, contractors and sub-contractors, as part of a safety culture communicated to employees through training and regularly reviewed for effectiveness
• Policies and practices in line with the Health and Safety Executive 'Driving for Work' guidance and existing best practice examples and an understanding of their legal, moral and financial implications
• An honest account of its safety record prior to implementing a risk management system, to include detail on crash reduction, cost saving and effect on insurance premiums
• Improved business performance, public image and staff morale, as a result of managing work-related road safety

Once, identified, 'business champions' will be kept up-to-date with all corporate road safety issues, including legislation changes, by RoadSafe.

The organisation will also provide presentation and promotional material for the 'champions' to use at speaking engagements and as follow-up information to be distributed to company bosses keen to implement risk management measures.

To join the 'Driving for Better Business' programme contact Caroline Scurr, of RoadSafe, by email at cscurr@roadsafe.com

Schemes show differing approaches

Devon county council

The managing work-related road safety message is to be delivered to company managers by drivers who attend speed awareness and driver improvement courses operated by Devon County Council in partnership with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

Approximately a third of the more than 5,000 drivers referred for a course each year will have been on a work-related journey at the time of committing a speeding or driving without due care and attention offence, according to data collected by the Devon Drivers' Centre.

As part of the Driving for Better Business programme a pilot scheme has been launched to run until the end of the year that will see at-work drivers attending a course as an alternative to prosecution being given a pack of information promoting the importance of managing occupational road risk.

The hope is that course delegates will deliver the information to their line managers and company bosses, who will then implement a raft of measures to reduce the risks faced both

Cambridgeshire county council

A vehicle being driven on business is involved in a crash on one of Cambridgeshire's roads every four-and-a-half hours and the county council says that is an accident rate that must improve.

Now, Cambridgeshire Council County is using a £93,000 Department for Transport grant to fund a 'Driving for Better Business' pilot scheme to help local businesses establish work-related road safety initiatives.

Under the project, entitled 'Road Safety - We Mean Business', the county council is to use its own database and British Chamber of Commerce branches in Peterborough and Cambridge to target company bosses.

The heart of the project will be a series of one-day seminars aimed at companies operating in different business sectors - including home delivery, IT and technology and agriculture - where speakers will outline to delegates their legal position and responsibilities with reference to at-work drivers and the potential consequences of poorly managed work travel. Delegates will also be advised as to how to implement a successful policy and given documentation to help them put strategies in place.

Key speakers at the seminars will include 'Business Champions' from the 'Driving for Better Business' programme.

Following the seminars, the council's road safety team will continue to offer support and advice to businesses as they implement driving for work procedures including the offer of examining policies to ensure all issues are correctly covered.

Additionally, businesses throughout the county are to be polled to determine any other requirements and local best practice case studies are to be compiled.

Matt Deacon, the council's road safety offi cer, said: "It is an exciting trailblazing project because we will be asking businesses to become teachers rather than learners. The 'Business Champions' will be using their experiences of implementing best practice at-work driving programmes to drive home to other organisations the business case for them to follow suit. The business case for putting in place a work-related safe driving programme is well documented, yet it remains a largely untapped market."

The council, which operates a 450-vehicle leased fleet, has put in place its own risk management strategy and is to act as public sector champions for the pilot.

An audit by insurer Zurich recorded a 50% reduction in crashes over the five years to 2004. The council pays for staff driver training every four years if they clock up more than 3,000 business miles a year. If staff are found to be blameworthy following a crash they undergo retraining. The Cambridgeshire driving for work programme is one of the 25 local authority road safety projects to benefi t from the fi rst Government grants to be awarded under its new Road Safety Partnership Grant Scheme programme. (RoadSafe: spring 2007).

The institute of plumbing and heating engineers

A raft of information is to be distributed by the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers to its 12,000 members, including 260 manufacturers and distributors.

The IPHE, the UK's professional and technical body for all plumbing and heating professionals, was chosen to operate a pilot 'Driving for Better Business' programme because, initially, most of the focus of the scheme is on the home delivery market.

A letter will be sent during the pilot to the 260 manufacturers and distributor members to raise awareness of the initiative and gauge response.

The letter will be accompanied by a questionnaire to enable a picture of the companies' occupational road risk policies to be compiled.

At local Plumbing and Heating Exhibitions being held in the second half of this year leafl ets and fact sheets will be included in all delegate packs to highlight the importance atwork driving safety.

Working with IPHE local branches it is hoped to hold seminars and focus groups and to also make available information at wholesale outlets such as Wolseley Plumb Centres and Travis Perkins depots - Wolseley already runs a successful occupational road risk management programme which won a Prince Michael of Kent Road Safety Award (RoadSafe: winter 2006/7). Finally, the organisation will use its members' magazine and website to champion the importance of companies' managing occupational road risk.

The 'Driving for Better Business' campaign will also be promoted on the organisation's website, which has 1,200 hits a day from both consumers and members.

The organisation's five-point code of practice highlights the importance of responsible working, safeguarding the environment and public health and safety and complying with all relevant laws, regulations, standards and codes.

Kevin Wellman, operations director of the Essex-based IPHE, said: "We will be delivering the work-related road safety message throughout our network and using as many communication channels as possible to target SME van operators and drivers who are our IPHE members.

"We also hope to recruit further 'Business Champions' from the IPHE and potentially ask them to attend seminars and other events to encourage other organisations to follow their lead.

"We believe that by improving the safety of staff who drive on business, employers are ultimately contributing to the safety of all those using the roads. The Institute is an educational charity and it is important that we are involved in the campaign as the promotion of safe working practices benefits our members and consumers.

"By promoting safe driving practices to as wide a audience as possible we are fulfilling a moral duty to our members and safeguarding the public."

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