Driver Safety: avoiding accidents when travelling on company business

Phil Chambers BSc, CMIOSH, Strategic Safety Systems Ltd.

There are an alarming number of accidents that occur on the road where the people involved are driving for business reasons. I’m not just talking about transport drivers; I’m talking about car drivers.

A common, but well-intentioned, mistake is to assume that all you need to do is to train your drivers. Drivers are only part of the problem; you need to address the following 4 topics:

Management

You need to verify that your drivers have current licences and follow up on incidents and convictions, including speeding.  Be aware of drivers who may be high risk, as discussed below.  It may be that you decide that some key drivers would benefit from a refresher assessment (I enjoyed mine) but do not do this in isolation.

Task

The first question you should ask is whether or not the journey is necessary.  Would a conference call work, or could the person travel by train?  Could multiple journeys be avoided by grouping visits to the same area and staying overnight if necessary?

Tasks must be tailored to minimise fatigue and pressures that encourage risk-taking.  Don’t expect someone to be at the other end of the country for a 9 am meeting. If car travel is necessary, get them to travel the night before.  Encourage people to take breaks; given the options of different routes with the same risk and travel time, I always chose the route with the best coffee break options.  Similarly, I avoid making 3 visits on the same day; one always overruns and that means that there is pressure to get to the last visit on time, which encourages risk taking and stress.

Vehicle

The vehicle must be roadworthy of course, For example, tyres must have sufficient tread, be free from damage and correctly inflated.  And the vehicle must be suitable for the task.  If loads are to be transported, are they within the capacity of the vehicle, is the load too far back, is it secure, etc.? Remember that rear seatbacks are not an effective way of restraining objects in the boot should a crash occur.

Driver

Do you have any drivers in high risk categories?  For example, young males or drivers who may be a higher risk of heart or other medical conditions.  Have you any people who you could suspect of being prone to road rage?  Courtesy is not overly evident on our roads and people on business travel have had a traditionally bad press in this area. Many road rage situations are the product of an initial act of poor discourtesy that escalates into a more serious situation, sometimes with very serious repercussions.  Encourage drivers to avoid acting discourteously and avoid arguments with other drivers.

Clearly state that mobile phones must not be used whilst driving and the proper place for eating and drinking is during a break, not behind the wheel.

If you address all of the above topics, then you can reduce the risks from road travel. Unfortunately, you cannot eliminate them.

Driving for Better Safety - Free eBook download

This eBook will guide you through some of the key understandings you need to be able to manage driver safety effectively and, at the end, provide a series of free resources you can access to help you ensure your own driver safety management system is robust, legally compliant and in line with industry-accepted good practice.

Download this eBook from Driving for Better Business and SHP to cover:

• Why do we need to manage driver safety?
• Duty of care – a shared responsibility;
• Setting the rules with a driving for work policy;
• Managing driver safety;
• Ensuring safe vehicles;
• Safe journeys and fitness to drive;
• Record keeping;
• Reporting;
• The business benefits of good practice;
• Additional resources

Download Now