Driving for Better Business

A podcast for those who manage drivers and their vehicles, and want to reduce road risk in their organisation.

As lockdown is lifted, make sure your fleet housekeeping is in order to improve your chances of business survival.

The old ways aren’t always the best ways. They are just the way things have always been done and it’s time to make a shift. It is not an easy one. We aren’t just talking about technology and equipment, or conducting ‘behavioural safety training. The Big Shift is about embracing human factors and optimising how we perform within the whole system and culture. It’s about people and how we think and act, our mindset and attitude. We need to make sure you have an environment that is set up to support people to perform at their best, with the capacity to think differently, fail safely and learn fast. Cleartrack Performance will present a high impact session, taking their experience from elite sport and the military, and sharing industry case studies of how to make this shift and applying a human and organisational performance approach within industry. This session was recorded at The Health & Safety Event 2022 and features Mark Soden – Managing Director, Cleartrack Performance

Safety messages need to be effective for people to understand, to remember and to comply. If you really hit the jackpot with your messaging, you can also make your audience into advocates. In this three-part blog on messaging we look at what you say – and how you say it. How we frame those messages makes a difference to how people relate to them.

Vehicle related incidents and collisions on private sites such as distribution centres, construction sites and haulage depots are common and can be extremely serious, leading to intrusive and public investigations and prosecutions. Chis will be looking in detail at common scenarios, consequences for both individuals and companies, and some of the solutions that are available to help minimise the risks. This session was recorded at The Health & Safety Event 2022 and features Chris Spinks – Managing Director, Westcotec

Matthew Avery, Director of Insurance Research at Thatcham, believes that some of the most exciting automotive developments are heading our way.

Initially on-road incidents spiked as the drivers learned to report every vehicle-related incident, down to the merest scratch. “It seems counter-intuitive but it has given us a sound baseline for charting improvement,” says Joe. The company has now seen both the number and value of claims diminish by 30%. “We have been able to move to self-insurance where we pay for any damage we cause directly, and we claim against third parties if they are at fault. This has saved us considerable money.” Metworks had 100 fewer claims between 2019 and 2020. It saved £36,000 in associated costs.

It’s essential that Joe repeats key themes each year for their drivers, as housing associations have a high turnover of staff, particularly near London which has several other associations all keen for skilled workers. The Metworks drivers are primarily maintenance operatives and so driving is not a core part of their professional skillset. Joe uses a mixture of training, e-learning, videos and toolbox talks to complement the fleet policies. “It’s important to make the policies real and applicable to them,” he says. “We work hard to make them understand that this isn’t about working a certain way because we say so – it’s intended to keep them and others safe and so ensure that we have fulfilled our duty of care.”

Joe has banned mobile phone use even by Bluetooth, athough each vehicle is equipped with Bluetooth technology. “I don’t remove the Bluetooth because I don’t want to inadvertently drive someone to make a call by holding the phone,” he says. “However, we make it very clear: calls can wait. I don’t care if the Queen is calling you. You pull over and ring her back when it’s safe. Even hands free, phone calls are distracting. “I ask myself: is that simple phone call worth someone’s life?”

The highest risk drivers are licence-checked, and trained, more frequently. “We use Licence Bureau training modules, which take drivers through basic training and a series of questions. Depending on how they perform, they will be directed to further modules to address their gaps in knowledge,” he says. Although he personally assesses each driver, he feels it’s not always the most reliable guide. “Anyone can drive well for half an hour with someone watching them,” he says. “I need to know how they perform when no one is watching.” He uses a driver-trainer who was previously an HGV driver. He runs classroom sessions, starting with the most high-risk individuals. Although interrupted by COVID, Joe hopes to resume these in-person sessions next year, as they included experiences which couldn’t be replicated on Teams. “We had the drivers wearing glasses which simulated the effects of alcohol on vision, and asked them to find things within the classroom. It really brings home to people how impaired alcohol makes you,” he says. Their former insurance provider also contributed resources and training which has been helpful. All of the training, including Joe’s initial induction sessions, is reinforced by toolbox talks, online videos and other PDA-based material.

The first thing Joe did was to analyse the fleet’s weaknesses. Although he has since taken steps to address these weaknesses, it is an ongoing process and still informs the company’s training schedule. “We have created a programme with our training provider which targets specific areas,” he says. “I also run a driver awareness campaign which restarts every January.”

Metworks are minimising driving time by ensuring that jobs are given to the most local driver and any corporate meetings which can be done by Teams are. “Quite simply the less they drive, the less at risk they are,” says Joe.