Driving Due Diligence

Why Health and Safety Covers Your Fleet

ZED AZIZ CMILT

Introduction

Fleet Transport Consultants (FTC), a leading provider of transport consultancy services, recently conducted an audit that highlighted significant oversights in how organisations manage work-related driving. The findings underscore a critical point: employers' duty of care under Health and Safety legislation extends to all employees who drive for work, whether in company vehicles or their own ("grey fleet"). This isn't simply a matter of compliance; it's about safeguarding your employees, your organisation, and your reputation. This post will examine the challenges, outline solutions, and explain how FTC, as experienced transport consultants, can assist organisations in fostering a safer driving culture.

Key Findings: The Overlooked Risks

Our audit revealed several systemic weaknesses in transport operations:

Governance and Accountability: Insufficiently defined roles and responsibilities for transport management lead to inconsistent policy application. A lack of a designated "Transport Manager" and board-level oversight means safety measures can be overlooked.
Compliance Deficits: Even organisations with robust compliance frameworks can have blind spots regarding driving. Shortcomings were identified in risk assessment practices, record-keeping, and adherence to rules.
Inconsistent Vehicle Management: Ambiguous lease agreements, inappropriate vehicle allocation, and deficient defect reporting contribute to operational inefficiencies, increased costs, and compromised safety.
Neglect of Driver Well-being: Inadequate route planning, distraction management, journey monitoring, and lone worker safety measures place drivers at unnecessary risk.
Under-reporting of Incidents: A failure to properly report and analyse incidents, particularly minor ones, and near misses hinders the ability to learn and prevent future occurrences.
Variations in On-Site Safety: Inconsistencies in on-site driving regulations between sites create driver confusion and elevate accident risk.
Underutilised Technology: Organisations often fail to fully utilise technology like vehicle tracking and driver mobile apps to improve risk assessment, monitor compliance, and increase efficiency.

The Employer's Challenge: Balancing Productivity and Safety

Organisations face the challenge of balancing productivity with driver safety. Pressures to meet deadlines, optimise routes and minimise costs can overshadow safety protocols. However, neglecting driver safety carries substantial risks:

Financial Losses: Accidents, vehicle damage and increased insurance premiums can result in significant costs.
Legal Liabilities: Non-compliance with Health and Safety legislation can lead to fines and legal action.
Reputational Damage: Safety incidents can damage an organisation's reputation.
Impact on Employee Well-being: Neglecting driver safety endangers employees, negatively impacting morale.

Solutions: A Proactive Approach

These risks can be mitigated through a proactive and comprehensive strategy. Based on our audit, organisations should implement the following:

Enhanced Governance and Accountability: Appoint a dedicated Transport Manager. Assign board-level responsibility for transport risk oversight. Clarify transport management responsibilities for relevant personnel.
Robust Risk Assessment Practices: Develop standardised risk assessment tools and provide training. Establish a schedule for regular risk assessment reviews.
Improved Knowledge of Regulations: Provide targeted training on transport regulations. Publish and maintain a Driver Safety Handbook. Establish effective communication channels for regulatory updates.
Enhanced Incident Data Visibility: Implement centralised data collection for incidents and near misses. Develop structured reporting and analysis procedures. Establish trend analysis to identify preventative measures.
Comprehensive Transport Management Policies: Conduct a policy gap analysis. Develop key transport policies (e.g., driver competency, vehicle maintenance, journey planning).Ensure policy integration with broader health and safety procedures.
Proactive Transport Safety Culture: Secure leadership engagement in promoting safety. Cultivate a "learning culture" for incident reporting. Implement communication and awareness campaigns.
Enhanced Internal Audit Process: Conduct regular internal transport audits. Utilise online platforms for efficient data management. Ensure regular reporting of audit findings to the board.

Specific Risk Areas and Mitigation

The audit identified specific risk areas requiring targeted mitigation:

Route Planning: Implement structured planning and use dedicated mobile applications.
Journeys: Implement robust dual driver record-keeping and standardise driver identification.
On-Site Driving: Standardise traffic management and implement unified speed limits.
Driver Risk Assessment: Integrate driver application and vehicle tracker data for dynamic risk scoring.
Driver Licence Checks: Periodic and risk based checks on driver licence photo cards, and if applicable Tachograph and CPC validations. (The FTC offers bulk driver licence checks on our sister site: LicenceCheck.org
Vehicle Selection: Optimise vehicle selection and transition to appropriate powertrains.
Driver Defects: Implement a universal vehicle walkaround check process.
Vehicle Maintenance: Standardise maintenance management.
Incident Management: Enhance incident reporting and investigation.
Distraction Management: Implement safe, integrated navigation solutions.
Gate Checks: Develop standardised gate check procedures.
Impairment: Methods to safeguard against driving under the influence or general poor fitness to drive.

Grey Fleet Considerations

These principles apply equally to grey fleet vehicles. Employers have the same duty of care regarding the safety of these vehicles and their drivers.

How Fleet Transport Consultants Can Help

FTC, a leading transport consultancy, offers a comprehensive range of transport consultancy services to assist organisations in improving their transport operations. Our transport consultants provide expertise in:

Project management
Policy development
Technology integration
Training program design
Risk management advisory services
Compliance Audits

Business Risk Self-Assessment

Prioritising driver safety is an investment in your organisation. A proactive approach to transport consultancy and effective transport risk management enhances safety, reduces costs and protects your reputation. Contact Fleet Transport Consultants to learn how we can help you implement effective measures and cultivate a strong safety culture.

Below is a link to our transport risk assessment for employers/ businesses, please you to gauge your business's compliance.