DfBB advises fleets to set safety goals high and mean what you say

3 July 2019

Story from Fleet News.

Whether you’re running the fleet department or the whole company, a credible commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of your staff is essential. Paying lip service to what needs to be done and then not following through properly will be spotted a mile away by observant staff, who will assume – correctly – that they aren’t really your top priority. It’s just box ticking.

If you believe driver safety is important and needs to be managed well, procedures need to be put in place that highlight failings or opportunities for improvement. It is only when you visibly deal with these issues that you clearly demonstrate to staff that you mean what you say.

Demonstrating leadership in occupational driving is one of the key elements in operating a fleet compliantly because it demands accountability. Accountability ensures that things get done as they are supposed to and that failures in compliance get highlighted and dealt with quickly. Dealing with things quickly ensures drivers see you mean what you say, underpinning your safety culture.

Driving for Better Business (DfBB) recently held a private sector summit on the topic of leadership in work-related road risk where 100 senior business leaders were invited to the McLaren Thought Leadership Centre in Woking, Surrey, to discuss some of the issues.

Martin Temple CBE, chairman of the Health and Safety Executive, talked about this need for effective leadership before asking the assembled delegates how often they discussed work-related road risk at their board meetings, the results were enlightening and slightly concerning.

How often is road risk discussed?

A small number (3%) never discussed work-related road risk at board meetings while 32% – very nearly a third – occasionally discussed it. A further 7% said they discussed it only after a serious incident. That’s a total of 42% of boards that don’t appear to give this issue the time it demands.

However, 36% said they discussed it frequently and less than a quarter (22%) said that it was always discussed at board meetings.

A managing director has ultimate responsibility for the safe operation of the business. Any kind of risk management must be owned by a named director – that includes workplace health and safety more generally, and work-related driving specifically.

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