FLEET CASE STUDY |
Sony UK has seen a 23% drop in road traffic crashes and a similar reduction in insurance premiums in the past three years following the introduction of a comprehensive occupational road risk plan. With a fleet of more than 500 company cars, Sony UK was increasingly aware of its exposure to risk on the road – and its impact on the company in terms of costs, downtime, injuries and rising insurance premiums. Taking a proactive stance to managing the number of fleet-related incidents it was dealing with, the global brand turned to supplier ING Car Lease to work with its fleet management team to devise and implement an effective risk management programme.
Sony was keen to fulfil its obligations as an employer, while engendering a safety culture throughout the organisation’s car drivers in the UK. If measurable savings could also be made through reduced insurance premiums, the business benefit would be complete. Carol Slater, corporate health and safety and environmental executive at Sony UK, says: “Undertaking the risk management programme has had a really positive effect on the way we view fleet management at Sony. We see it as part of our corporate culture, to care for our people and enable them to be as productive and creative as possible. “Apart from the substantial savings in insurance costs, we have been able to reduce executive downtime, repair costs, and rental expenses, while improving efficiency and general well-being.”
| “Undertaking the risk management programme has had a really positive effect on the way we view fleet management at Sony” |
She adds: “We have a strong moral responsibility to make sure our employees are working in the safest possible environment. The financial bonus we received in the form of a premium reduction, coupled with the reduced number of accidents have been two of the benefits of our commitment to driver-training. The success we have had is a powerful endorsement of driver training.” Working closely together, Sony’s fleet management team and ING Car Lease developed a seven-point plan to radically improve the risk profile of the fleet. First, Sony completely revised its company car policy, placing a strong emphasis on road safety and drivers’ responsibilities. This action set out the company culture and the behaviour expected of company car drivers.
A comprehensive car choice sees vehicles range from Volkswagen Golf through Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the Ford Galaxy to the high-specced Audi A8 and BMW 7- Series. Additionally, supporting an environmental approach to reduce the carbon footprint, cars with combined cycle fuel economy of below 25 mpg and with a carbon dioxide emissions figure of above 260 g/km are excluded. A simple checking system was also put in place to validate driving licences with the DVLA. This ensured that only qualified employees were driving fleet vehicles. Every driver was asked to complete an online risk assessment to highlight potential areas of risk and the issue among car users – Sony UK has around 1,300 employees who could use their own vehicles for business mileage.
Accident data was tracked and analysed to identify and address trends among certain groups of drivers. A study of crash records across the high-mileage fleet showed that company car drivers were involved in a high percentage of rear-end damage accidents, hitting immoveable objects while parking and reversing. A handful of multiplecollision accidents on motorways were also recorded but no incidents resulted in serious injury. All drivers identified as “high risk” via the risk assessment tool were offered driver training to improve their road skill and safety awareness with training specifically based around the types of crashes suffered. Road traffic offences are also reviewed regularly to identify risk drivers, who would be offered training.
In the majority of crashes, driver error was identified as a “significant cause”. Typical slips and lapses included distraction and a consequent failure to observe and interpret the road environment correctly as well as an inadvertent but inappropriate operation of vehicle controls such as hitting the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. Overseas drivers, who form a significant part of Sony’s fleet, have also been obliged to take part in a UK familiarisation course before driving on UK roads. ING Car Lease’s fleet risk manager, Diarmuid Fahy, is convinced that simple steps as outlined above could have a massive effect on most organisations’ risk profile.
He says: “Working with an enlightened employer such as Sony shows how much of an impact just a few relatively straightforward systems can have on a business. What was even more fascinating is the fact that Sony’s accident rate dropped significantly within the first quarter in which we launched the risk management programme, before any training had even taken place. We believe that sending out the message that the business had set the quality standard and was monitoring drivers was incentive enough to effect a culture change within the business. ”
