Company bosses pledge to review driver safety rules after seminar

15 June 2009

Firms are to review their road safety policies for company drivers after attending a fleet driver seminar. Bosses vowed to check their existing road safety policies and amend them where necessary to comply with strict new laws such as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act and the Health and Safety (Offences) Act.

The laws were described as a ‘minefield’ of legislation by Simon Protano, head of corporate risk management at Shropshire’s TTC Group, one of the UK’s leading driver training specialists.

Business drivers have up to 40% more road crashes than the average motorist with a ‘horrendous’ amount of road deaths and serious injuries each week, he told senior managers responsible for fleet drivers at the seminar supported by Midlands Excellence, which promotes the sharing of company good practice.

“Reputations that take decades to build up can be ruined in hours through high profile accidents. Managing risk is a central part of many corporate strategies,” said Mr Protano.

He urged companies to build a genuine culture of ‘doing the right thing’ to offset the risks.

As a result, he outlined the ‘strong business case’ for implementing a risk management strategy leading to fewer accidents, reduced fuel costs and substantial savings on vehicle wear and tear. “Road traffic accidents affect profits and in this current climate it is wise to invest in a strategy to lessen the impact,” said Mr Protano.