Employers Safer Speed Policies

Employers are legally obliged to analyse the risks involved in driving for their mobile workforce. This is due to the HSE ‘driving at work’ guidelines that say ‘health and safety law applies to on the road work activities as to all work activities’. This is hardly surprising when faced with the statistic that 250 people are acutely injured and 20 people die each week in collisions with individuals who were using the road for work purposes, making driving the number 1 most dangerous work related activity.

Employers may think that implementing a driving health and safety procedure will be costly. However, the benefits by far outweigh the cost, and companies could even save money, and improve their reliability, with their un-insured costs reduced and their drivers off the road for less time.

Speeding is the most significant factor in an employee’s safety on the road. This does not just include driving above the speed limit, but driving above a speed that is considered safe for the weather conditions such as fog or snow, or the nature of the road such as high pedestrian areas and winding country lanes.

In Britain, speeding can be accounted for 70,000 crashes per year. Out of those 70,000 accidents, 12,000 people are seriously injured and 1,100 people die. Higher speed crashes are extremely destructive not just to the speeding driver, but to other road users and even passers by. This is because of the decreased reaction time to hazards, and a reduction in the amount of time there is to recognize that there is a hazard present. The impact of driver errors, such as following too closely behind another car and driving without full concentration, is also increased by speeding.

Employees driving company car’s can often commit the highest and most frequent instances of speeding, as they often operate on tight time schedules and are dashing between appointments, this can be further compounded if the employee is on a commission pay structure based on sales performance and customer contact targets. This can often give an employee a negative frame of mind that their work pressures are more important than driving to ensure the safety of themselves and others. A frightening statistic is that company car drivers are 50% more likely to have a car crash than domestic road users. This is something that employers need to seriously consider when they are setting targets and compiling their road health and safety procedures.

There are a number of positive steps an employer can take to help keep their employees safe. The first one may seem like common sense to many but if it is re-iterated to employees, it can have a positive impact; your company expects safe driving. Employees and managers should work together to set the targets in the road health and safety policy, as when employees are involved in something, rather than dictated to, they are more likely to ‘buy in’ to the idea, and the important messages behind the policy.

Of course, there are basic checks that can be conducted on employees before they start working for your company that can help to identify if there might be any issues with keeping safe on the road. One way is to ask for a copy of both parts of their driving license, and review this data at regular intervals. You should record all fixed penalty notices also.

Additional measures that may reduce speeding include:

Increase Awareness

At certain stages of an employee’s dealings with their company they should be reminded of road safety awareness; such as when the employee is recruited, reaches the end of their probation period and during performance reviews. Awareness should be raised about the following issues; the need to plan journeys effectively so that employee’s are not in a hurry, the pressures that can result in speeding, the benefits of not speeding (like a car uses less fuel if it is driven more efficiently), the company’s road safety policy and the way that dangers are increased on the road by inappropriate use of speed.

Communicate with Police Forces

Employees need to be made aware that their employers will communicate and co-operate with Police about any alleged road traffic offences or fixed penalty notices, providing the car in questions driver’s full name, address and any other details that may be relevant.

Maintain a Safe Speed Culture

Employees are far more likely to comply with road health and safety policy if their Managers ‘practise what they preach’, and also drive responsibly. Managers should also encourage employees, when the opportunity presents itself, to drive their vehicles safely. Employees should be asked of their opinions and suggestions regarding the company road safety policy and consulted on any changes, before they are put in writing.

Consider Investing in Technology

Today’s employers have a wide choice of technology at their fingertips which helps them to enforce their health & safety driving policies and ensure that their employees drive responsibly. A good example of this technology is GPS vehicle tracking systems. GPS tracking systems provide employers with detailed information based on their employee’s movements and driving behaviour (speeding, harsh acceleration, braking and cornering). Many tracking systems can provide this data in the form of real time alert notifications which are delivered via email or text message to managers as well as detailed reports that highlight instances of poor driving behaviour and summaries of employees driving performance within a specified timeframe. This key information provides employers with the confidence and insight they need to identify areas of concern where action needs to be taken to protect their employees, other road users and themselves.