Working with the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team, we have produced a van driver handbook to assist van drivers and fleet operators in dispelling uncertainty and myth. You can also share the online Van Driver Toolkit with your drivers, or you may prefer to share individual modules whenever you want to check understanding
Distraction is a leading a cause of collision. Whether manual, visual or cognitive, a distracted driver is not in full control of their vehicle, nor able to process and adapt to the changing environment around them. Fleets should educate drivers about the huge risks associated with distraction, and ensure that drivers have safe ways of alleviating
Driver fatigue may be a contributory factor in up to 20% of road incidents, and up to one quarter of fatal and serious incidents. It’s a huge risk for fleets, drivers and for the general public – and commercial vehicle drivers are vulnerable to fatigue due to demanding workloads and high mileage. Our fleet safety
Your monthly Driving for Better Business Fleet Safety Focus Update in collaboration with the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Team.
Van drivers receive in-vehicle training from AA DriveTech, and Mandy has also extended in-person training to all car drivers. She says occasional resistance to delaying a driver’s vehicle allocation until they have had adequate training was quickly overcome by managers’ acceptance of the safety issue. “Our role is to be supportive, not obstructive,” she says.
Miele’s car drivers tend to plan their own schedules, while the van fleet is scheduled by Head Office. Mandy says the drivers themselves were keen to engage with the idea of fleet safety, but organisationally she realised Miele was lacking key governance components. When the previous fleet manager left some years previously, fleet governance was
The data recording system incorporates the daily walk-round safety check every driver should complete on their vehicle, making it easier to ensure compliance. The next level of assurance would be inspections by regional management and finally the internal audit team will investigate and validate evidence of effective checks. This will be an important risk mitigation
Network Rail is very conscious of the risk of fatigue, as its workers often fix railway lines at night when services are naturally reduced. “In principle we would like to be able to analyse our shift patterns to see if we can lower the risk of driver fatigue,” he says. “We are currently looking at
Network Rail has created control processes and also a process definition document which looks at organisation, responsibility and accountability, data collection and objectives. Road risk sits within health and safety, one of Network Rail’s 16 core processes. A proper governance structure means it can be measured, managed and monitored appropriately. The company’s internal auditors reviewed
Simon Morgan heads up all corporate health and safety, including all workforce and rail passenger risk. Although this is a dizzyingly broad remit, he recognises that driving is still one of the organisation’s key risk areas to manage. While its engineers are very well versed in the health and safety of working on railway lines,
