More work needs to be done to raise the profile of managing the risks
of driving at work, in spite of the fact that two or three times as
many workers are killed in occupational road-related incidents than by
any other workplace hazard.
This is the conclusion of RoSPA’s occupational safety advisor, Roger Bibbings, who addressed delegates on the subject at the IOSH 09 Conference, in Liverpool yesterday (Tuesday).
Bibbings explained that the financial payback for companies — not to mention their moral obligation and lowering their carbon footprint — of controlling the risks associated with driving at work, rendered the issue a “no-brainer”.
But he argued that, despite government targets to reduce the number of casualties on Britain’s roads, “the contribution that we can make through managing occupational road risk hasn’t been appreciated”.
He went on to suggest that if the HSE goes down the route of risk-profiling companies, occupational road risk would come out near the top of organisations’ priorities. According to Bibbings, this would then challenge inspectors to have more in-depth conversations with duty-holders about the issue.
However, he also listed a number of ways in which improvements could be delivered, including the possibility of teaching road risk as part of the NEBOSH diploma, and asking whether there needed to be a specific management standard. He also stressed that more work was needed to communicate the road-risk message to small firms, and address the issue of so-called ‘grey fleets’ — people using their own vehicles in the course of their work.
Delegates also heard from David Wallington, group health and safety advisor at BT, who argued that the greatest difficulty lay in changing attitudes not among the board but among managers and drivers. Describing the approach taken at BT, Wallington emphasised the need to lay out, in clear written form, the standards an organisation expects of drivers and managers, in terms of behaviour, procurement, maintenance of vehicles, etc.
Forming the core of BT’s strategy is an online driver risk assessment, which sets out to identify those drivers who are ‘at risk’, medium risk, or low risk, categorised via a traffic-light rating.
The 10 per cent who fall into the ‘at risk’ category comprise half who simply drive too many miles, and are thereby over-exposed to the risk, and half who are a concern in terms of their attitude or behaviour. Individuals in the first group are simply asked why they are driving so much in the course of their work, and guided towards solutions to reduce the amount of time they spend on the road. The other group, said Wallington, is directed towards traditional on-road driver training and assessment to change their behaviour.
Nigel Wilkinson, head of health, safety and environment at British Gas, gave delegates an insight into how his previous employer, T-Mobile, had used technology to help drivers manage the risk themselves. He explained that by giving 250 field engineers in-vehicle black-box devices, which flash red if a driver makes an unsafe manoeuvre, the firm had reduced road-traffic accidents by 26 per cent. Financially, this approach also resulted in a saving of £400,000 in vehicle repairs.
