RoSPA launch young at-work drivers online toolkit

10 April 2010

A groundbreaking Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) initiative which identified a need for further skills and training among young people who drive for work has culminated in the creation of a free online toolkit to enable employers to run their own in-house workshops.

The resources - an activity guide and facilitator’s notes, including guidance on how to evaluate a workshop - are available at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork/.

Their launch marks the final stage of RoSPA’s two-year young drivers at work project, funded by the Department for Transport and supported by the Driving for Better Business campaign, which is managed by RoadSafe.

The workshop is designed to be led by fleet, HR or health and safety managers, or by road safety professionals, and is for 17-24-year-old employees who drive as part of their job, no matter what their role.

Claimed to be ideal for groups of 10-15 participants, it addresses a range of issues raised by both employers and young drivers in a study conducted at the start of the project, as well as covering some of the common causes of accidents.

It encourages participants to discuss their own experiences of driving for work and to identify how personal tendencies can lead to unsafe situations, in addition to covering wider issues such as deadline pressures, unfamiliar vehicles and travelling to new locations.

Participants discuss and develop strategies for what they can do to drive safer and what their employers can do to help them achieve this. After the workshop, it is intended that drivers will put their strategies into action. The importance of good journey planning is a particular focus.

The workshop discussions can also act as a gauge to how well an organisation’s work-related road safety policies are being adopted by their drivers in practise, says RoSPA.

Duncan Vernon, RoSPA’s road safety manager for England, said: “Young drivers and occupational drivers are among the most vulnerable users of our roads. Road safety is a responsibility best shared between employers and employees and we hope the workshop will help honest communication between them.

“Ultimately, we hope the legacy of the young drivers at work project will be fewer road accidents, meaning fewer people are killed or injured on our roads and businesses are able to avoid the costly losses that accidents bring.”