September 20198 IN MY V EWBY CAROLINE PERRY, NZ DIRECTOR, BRAKEAll organizations that have employees who drive on work purposes have a responsibility to manage the safety of their fleet. Whether employees are permanent staff or contractors, vehicles are company-owned, leased/hired or employee-owned, and regardless of the type of vehicle, organizations have a duty of care both to the safety of their employees and to the wider public.Every year around 1.35 million people die in road crashes globally. Millions more suffer serious, life-changing injuries. Crashes have devastating consequences for families and communities. Across the world, at-work drivers and vehicles are involved in a significant number of crashes, but there are some simple measures that organizations can implement to address their road risk, no matter the size of the organization or budget.Below are a few things that are essential to managing the safety of your fleet:Senior management buy-inGaining the support of senior management can be a challenge, but it's vital to the success of a fleet safety programme. You may have legal obligations in relation to health and safety at work laws, but organizations also have a social and moral responsibility to keep their staff and the public safe on the road. What's more, investing in fleet safety can save you much more long-term. After a collision, the costs to an organization can include: increased insurance premiums; vehicle downtime; lost productivity; employee sick leave; missed sales; damaged or lost stock; and damage to reputation. By reducing incidents you can reduce costs for your organization.Once you've gained management support, it's important to maintain and utilize it. Ensure all employees, including senior staff, follow the same fleet safety policies and procedures. This helps to maintain a strong fleet safety culture across the organization.Fleet safety policyWhether standalone or incorporated into your health & safety policy, having a fleet safety policy is a key first step to addressing your road risk. This should set out what your organization will do to address safety and who has responsibility for it, including senior management, managers/supervisors and drivers.Recording incidentsRecord and report all incidents, including near misses. By reporting these, and analyzing the data, you can identify some key risks, any trends in incidents and vehicles/drivers/routes involved, and then use this information to target driver, vehicle and journey safety interventions where they're needed in order to reduce incidents.Drivers, vehicles, and journeysIt's important to implement measures that address all aspects of road risk:Caroline PerryMANAGING YOUR ROAD RISK TO SAVE LIVES AND REDUCE COSTS
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