Private, public partnership: Bill Miller of Snows Motor Group (left) and Mike Sambles of Hampshire Road Safety team

“Some companies just don't see driver training as a priority”

Hampshire Road Safety team’s contribution is a business driver assessment, training and education programme that, since its inception in 1997, has gained a solid reputation amongst local businesses. Using a dedicated team of contracted in ADI’s – none less than grade 5 – Hampshire offers a service that ranges from simple vision screening and driver risk profiling right through to one-day training sessions for car and HGV drivers. The team attempts to offer a solution to any organisation concerned with decreasing the road risk to its staff, and its client base ranges from small, internal council departments right through to large multinationals such as Exxon, which operates the huge Fawley oil refinery on Southampton Water.

With over 8,000 commercial businesses in Hampshire, the potential for driver training in the county is high, but it can be surprisingly difficult to convince companies of the value to them. “Some companies just don’t see driver training as a priority,” says Mike Sambles, Senior Road Safety Officer, an ADI with over 30 years’ driver training experience and charged with managing the programme. “They don’t see that the car is just as much a workplace as an office and that the same emphasis on health and safety applies there too.”

Mike has been amazed at how little some companies do to safeguard themselves and their staff. “Sometimes even basic checks aren’t done; simple things like checking licences – we’ve come across drivers who are working on invalid licences and management have been horrified when we’ve pointed this out. The liability implications to a company of an accident in that situation doesn’t bear thinking about – it really shouldn’t happen. We need to break through this sort of thinking, so we work to inform companies of their responsibilities and especially the corporate risks they run if proper health and safety measures aren’t in place.”

The perceived cost of training can be another barrier, but this is an area where Mike believes his local authority scheme has the edge. “We have no motive for delivering training other than to reduce road traffic casualties. We don’t make a profit out of this; our charges cover our running costs, which means we represent exceptionally good value to our clients. If they still see it as an unwelcome additional cost, we always push the potential benefits to them in saved vehicle costs and reduced staff days lost through injury, as quite often this hasn’t been considered. In short, we get them to consider the potential costs of not using training.” Getting a foot in the door is often all that is required. Mike adds: “Sometimes we’ll get a tentative okay to do a driver workshop, and this opens eyes as to what we’re trying to achieve, especially if managers are sat in on the session – they suddenly understand that this isn’t just a nannying lecture but a way of safeguarding staff and company interests and something that can be of very real financial benefit to the company. Quite often the request for assessments and driver training will follow on.”

One person who has seen the benefits of the team’s approach is Bill Miller, Group Facilities Manager and responsible for health and safety for the Snows Motor Group, a motor dealership with approaching 400 staff and one of Hampshire’s regular clients. Snows Motor Group place a high emphasis on employee welfare and, three years ago, put a detailed policy in place entitled Managing Vehicles Safely, based on the DfT’s Driving at Work Road Safety publication. “We recognised the need to be pro-active with driver safety so, once a clear policy was in place, we decided to assess our staff focussing on all staff joining the group and drivers with particular problems or who lacked confidence. When we read about the Hampshire Road Safety Team package, we decided to give them a go. We trialled them for three months – and that was 15 months ago.” says Bill.

Over that time, the team has assessed some 140 Snows Motor Group employees and put 10 of those identified with particular problems through one-day, driver improvement training. “We have been very pleased with the whole set up which is flexible to our needs and minimally disruptive – the assessments are run out of our dealerships, staff use their own vehicles and the whole thing lasts an hour per driver which means we can get six staff through in a day and, because additional driver training is only given to those identified as having problems, we know money is being spent only where it is needed.”

Satisfied customer: Bill Miller of Snows Motor Group

“Drivers asked to pack too much into a busy day are at even greater risk”

Bill emphasises the benefit that there has been for staff morale. “Our staff recognise that we are taking a professional approach to their safety, especially as many have had no training at all since their driving test. All new staff now automatically have an assessment and the reaction is generally positive – some staff have been resistant, especially if they have been driving for many years, but they invariably change their attitude.” Driver resistance is something Mike Sambles is used to dealing with, especially on the one-day Business Driver workshops. Sitting in at the start of one of these sessions, the suspicion and cynicism from the audience can be marked, but Mike knows that this rarely lasts. “ People are very sensitive about their driving. It’s not uncommon for people to start off unreceptive and knowing it all – loads of barbed comments about safety cameras and speed humps – but by the end of the session they realise that a lot of the risk in their driving can come from their own bad habits and attitudes.”

But Mike is keen to emphasise the positive bent of the programme. “We want this to be a useful and productive experience so we don’t preach to people; we use a mix of presentation, discussion and simple activities to deliver the facts and give people some pointers as to how they can stay safer when they are out driving for work. It’s a relaxed session, but it’s designed to switch people on to the realities behind road traffic casualties and to the risks they run as drivers. The tips we give are just common sense guides to safe driving – there’s no mystery to it and that’s the message we want to give. By the end, some people are even asking about advanced driving courses – it can be that effective.” Management, too, learn a lot about the consequences of not having a rigorous driving policy in place and begin to understand that drivers asked to pack too much into a busy day are at even greater risk, as deadlines and tiredness build pressure.

The importance of journey planning is incorporated into the team’s review of company policy, as is vehicle suitability – many drivers are found to carry unsecured loads on the back seat of a saloon where use of an estate or small van would be more appropriate. Policy on mobile phones is another area that is advised on and something Mike feels strongly about. “Mobile phones are still a bone of contention because the message has been sent out that hands-free sets are ‘safe’ because they are legal. Companies have got used to their staff doing business in the cars and don’t want to see driving time as unproductive downtime, but a lot of it is perception rather than reality. We know that most mobile use is actually unnecessary and will have little effect on productivity overall – far less than the effects of a road traffic accident where mobile phone use is implicated, whether hands-free or not. Expecting a driver to talk on a phone whilst driving seriously contradicts a company’s duty of care and we make this very clear. We have known companies rip out hands-free systems from their entire fleets – at a huge saving in running costs – with negligible effect on productivity and happier, less stressed drivers to boot.” Though the local authority provides the service, it is itself one of the largest employers in Hampshire and makes full use of its own internal expertise. “Driver training is a fundamental tool in managing occupation risk and one we take very seriously.” says Gerry Colverson, Strategic Health and Safety Adviser for the county. “We have a responsibility not only to our own staff, but to our clients and members of the public too, so we try to ensure that anybody who drives full-time for the Council undertakes training.”

Top training: Nick Perret is one of six ADI’s contracted by Hampshire County Council to provide business driver training. Typical of the team, he holds an advanced driving qualification (Rospa Gold) and is an Approved Fleet Register Trainer

“The real cost lies in employers choosing to do nothing at all”

A clearly-stated and accessible policy informs departmental managers of their responsibilities, which is interpretable according to each department’s local needs. Driving staff are recommended for re-assessment every two years on a rolling programme and regular vision screening sessions are run to identify any major problems. Management do not escape and Gerry is in no doubt as to the effectiveness of training. “ My own driving assessment was very useful,” admits Gerry. “I had picked up some bad habits and got a bit lazy about things as we all do, but the advice given by the assessor was very practical and, whilst the risks will never go away, being aware of them and the methods to counter them has helped my driving confidence. Given the number of people who drive on duties for the Council, this is a fundamentally important tool in maintaining our duty of care towards them.” The road safety team is in no doubt as to the importance of the service they offer, and Ernie Sage, Hampshire’s Road Safety Services Manager who was instrumental in setting up the programme, puts it in perspective. “The government has set a target of a 40% reduction in those killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads by the year 2010. That’s a big drop, but one I believe is achievable and one in which employers have a significant part to play.” Ernie is convinced that the training and education approach is the right one and that this is something employers need to recognise.

“A safer approach by employers would go a huge way to reducing the number of casualties on our roads,” he says. “Across Europe, it has been estimated that the risk to a driver at work is 40 times higher than for employment activity overall. That says an awful lot about employer responsibility – we can all be safer when we drive, but if unreasonable work demands and unsuitable vehicles are dialled in, it makes it that much harder.” With this in mind, summing up the issue is easy for Ernie. “It really isn’t expensive or difficult for employers to provide education and training to their driving staff – the real cost lies in them choosing to do nothing at all.”