 |
| |
| Directors are out of touch with at-work driver
safety, while fleet executives have a pivotal role to play
in improving occupational road risk, according to
Kwik-Fit Fleet’s risk management report |
Kwik-Fit chairman Sir Trevor
Chinn (right), with Mike Wise sales director (left), together
with Professor Peter Cooke (front) |
 |
| "Few boards of directors
are aware of the status of the cars used on business within
their organisations" |
Company bosses are being increasingly held to account for the deaths
and serious injuries of employees following an at-work accident.
Latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal
a 4% increase in the number of employee deaths, with 235 people
killed at work in 2003/04, eight more than in the previous year.
Meanwhile, figures from the Department for Transport reveal that
the number of deaths on Britain’s roads increased last year
to 3,508, a 2% rise on 2002’s figures and a third of which
are likely to have involved at-work drivers. It is therefore little
wonder that the government, the HSE and the police have combined
to urge firms to take their health and safety and duty of care responsibilities
towards their employees seriously. However, a major report sponsored
by Kwik-Fit Fleet reveals that boards of directors are out of touch
with their fleet executives and government strategy in managing
and monitoring at-work driving. Simultaneously, the report suggests,
fleet executives have a pivotal role to play in reducing their company’s
occupational road risk.
The report, “Profit through Safety: A Boardroom Plan for Action”,
highlights how a raft of new and existing health and safety at work
and duty of care legislation is being used by the police and HSE
in an attempt to reduce the 20 fatalities and 250 serious injury
accidents involving occupational drivers each week in Britain. The
government-inspired policy of “getting tough” on rogue
companies will be further increased when the Home Office introduces
long-expected corporate manslaughter legislation in the near future.
However, despite the near “draconian” level of legislation,
research for the report reveals that there are “disturbing
gaps in board awareness of fleet safety” in large organisations
and, in the case of small and medium businesses, “the implementation
of fleet safety policies is too often lacking”.
But fleet executives are receiving a considerable amount of guidance
and instruction on best practice and policy implementation with
regard to the management of cars used on business. The report concludes:
“Few boards of directors are aware of the status of the cars
used on business within their organisations and do not have regular
formal board-level reports as to the ongoing status of business
mobility. At the same time, responsibility for business vehicle
non-performance is being placed at their feet.” In many cases,
says the report, the “buck” stops with the fleet executive
and awareness of fleet issues is not passed to the board, either
for information or for comment and action. Report author Professor
Peter Cooke, of the Centre for Automotive Industries Management,
Nottingham Business School at the Nottingham Trent University, says:
“We have three elements – one external, one internal,
pursuing business vehicle safety, but a second internal element,
the board – with whom ultimate responsibility lies –
apparently out of touch. “Such a situation cannot, or should
not be allowed to continue, not only in the best-managed organisation,
but also in any business.
The legal requirements have been put there for a specific purpose
and it is the role of the board to ensure those rules are followed
and to have an audit trail that shows they are followed with diligence.”
The report says that a nominated director should have day-to-day
responsibility for business car policy and strategy, and monitor
the situation. In turn, fleet executives should be responsible for
suggesting best practice to the board, communicating operational
issues to drivers, monitoring fleet performance and highlighting
critical issues and remedial actions. Meanwhile, company car and
van drivers and employees using their own cars on business should
accept, as part of their job description, company rules regarding
monitoring and best practice and remedial action as necessary. They
should also have an obligation to report incidents to the fleet
executive.
|
| "It is the role of the
three parts of the organisation to work together to make the
fleet operation safer" |
Professor Cooke says: “Thus, the three players in the equation
are balanced and communicate with each other with management awareness
and remedial actions to correct problems built into the equation.”
But he adds: “Crucially, the fleet executive is moved from
being on the fringe of the action, as would happen if there were
no board reporting, to the middle of the information structure.
Such a position puts the fleet executive more firmly in control
of the situation and with support from a higher level if necessary.
It is the role of the board of directors to work with the fleet
executive to plan how fleet safety might be enhanced, and to transmit
that message to business car users, whether they drive a company
car or provide their own for work. “Government has introduced
sanctions for poor fleet safety that can be both time consuming
and costly. It is the role of the three parts of the organisation
to work together to make the fleet operation safer – and if
done properly – reduce costs as well. “The management
of work-related road safety has become a critical part of the role
of the fleet executive but, as important, responsibility now, more
than ever before, rests with the board of directors of the business.”
To order a copy of the new Kwik-Fit Fleet-sponsored
report “Profit through Safety” contact Kwik-Fit Fleet
on:Tel: 01727 840206 or e-mail: info@kwik-fitfleet.com
To help with the analysis and implementation of the issues and policies
raised in the report, a CD-ROM featuring a fleet safety management
and monitoring model, developed by Professor Cooke, is available
free of charge from Kwik-Fit, as above
|
Free checks to beat the freezeCalls for companies to reduce
the number of at-work driving accidents by improving their
management of occupational road risk has led to Kwik-Fit
Fleet launching its annual winter safety campaign. The HSE’s
“Driving at work: managing work-related road safety”
guide stresses the importance of maintaining vehicles in
a “safe and fit condition”. That includes carrying
out basic checks to safety-related equipment such as tyres,
vehicle glass, windscreen and windscreen wipers.
In addition the HSE advice says that all planned and preventative
maintenance should be carried out by a competent person
to ensure safety standards are maintained. From November,
all 700+ Kwik-Fit centres will undertake the company’s
free five-point vehicle health and safety check with the
first 20,000 motorists to have their vehicles checked receiving
a complimentary winter car kit containing an ice scraper,
a can of de-icer and a bottle of screenwash. The free winter
safety checks are being undertaken for the 15th year in
succession at Kwik-Fit centres and they cover:
- Exhaust check – condition and fitment including
hangers and brackets
- Tyre check – pressures, tread depth and general
condition (including spare)
- Tracking check – to see if tyres show tracking-related
wear
- Glass/wipers check – condition of vehicle glass
and wipers
- Battery check – cell strength and terminal connections
Kwik-Fit Fleet sales director Mike Wise says: “In
the past three years, the importance of companies managing
occupational road risk has grown as a result of new government
legislation and a concerted focus from both the HSE and
particularly the police in investigating accidents involving
at-work drivers. “The onset of winter invariably means
driving conditions worsen, with visibility often poor and
roads frequently icy. It is therefore vital that vehicles
are in tip-top condition.
A failure by drivers to ensure their vehicle’s safety-related
equipment is in a first-class condition could be the difference
between life and death. “Kwik-Fit Fleet is a health
and safety-focused company and has already launched a range
of initiatives to help businesses improve their fleet safety
performance. We would encourage all company car and van
drivers to have their vehicles checked out by one of our
trained technicians.” Drivers wanting to put their
vehicle through the free winter health and safety check
should simply call into a Kwik-Fit centre. No appointment
is required.
|
|
|
|
