How does your fleet safety program rate?

It’s no big secret that vehicle accidents cost employers twice as much as the average workplace injury and are the leading cause of workplace death.

Of course property damage and employee injuries a major issue, but lost productivity, lost revenue, and third-party liability claims drive the insurance costs up.

The following points can help your organization’s drivers to make better decisions and reduce the potential for fleet-related accidents.

It’s no big surprise that distracted driving is a major cause of accidents, with cell phone use and texting involved in more than 25% of all collisions. Handheld devices are a major distraction and behind collisions.

It is required that water and wastewater organizations develop policies to manage vehicle operations.

This should include:

· Policies eliminating, managing and/or limiting personal electronic device use while driving and investing in equipment that limits cell phone use while a vehicle is in use.

· Require all devices to have apps that restrict use while vehicle is in motion, such as LifeSaver – Many cell phones have similar built-in features to address this.

· Install electronica on fleet vehicles to monitor driver behavior such as hard braking, cornering, speeding, backup on leave, etc.

Training should include the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving Course or the Smith System that has shown to improve driver safety and reduce accidents. There are other fine programs to consider as well.

In addition, there is nothing better than in-person classroom training as well as behind-the-wheel training and skills assessment.

Training should be placed on specific annual schedules to include frequent training intervals.

In addition:

· Take 15 minutes each month to engage input/feedback and include monthly tailgate topics.

· Implement a safety slogan program and change it monthy.

· Require new hires to complete the National Safety Council or other recognized defensive driving course.

· Provide refresher training in areas of the most common crash types and risks.

· Make the program fun rather than punitive and recognize positive driving behaviors.  

Consider developing a performance program that ties driving to a metrics system. This might include speeding, collisions, maintenance interval compliance, unreported vehicle damage, pre-trip inspections, observed driver behavior, and telematics reports, may influence the score.

Here are some things to consider that can improve your program:

· It’s critical to define the goals of the program. It’s important to let employees know that safe driving is a condition of employment and that no job is so important that it should be at a worker’s personal risk.

· This all begins at the leadership level. Managers and employees need to know there are rules and if they are not followed, there will be consequences and their support is needed to make the program effective.

· Key elements that should be in place include a written fleet safety policy, support from senior management, and a knowledgeable and dedicated person to implement and enforce the policy.

· The organization’s fleet policy should be a consensus of several departments, including HR, legal, fleet, safety/risk and of course the employees. Of course, some elements involving impaired driving (drug/alcohol) require careful review and progressive discipline if warranted.

· Be careful not to overlook the importance of annual (at a minimum), motor vehicle record review.

· Create an annual safety competition that assesses care/maintenance, driving skills behind the wheel, written test measuring safety knowledge. Award the driver with the highest score.

· A fleet safety program is a living document and should be continually updated.

Implementation of solid fleet program certainly will pay be dividends, so we recommend pursuing this effort.