How to improve Road Safety in your organization
Whether a large or small fleet of vehicles is part of your company, you often have employees on the road for work or you just want to make sure that your staff stays safe when they make occasional business trips, there are a number of things you can do in the workplace to raise awareness about and promote road safety.
Your approach should vary based on how vehicles are used within your company and what your staff is likely to respond to, but the tips below can help you get started.
Knowing and Following Regulations
If your business includes a fleet, there may be a number of regulations that you need to follow. While these can feel onerous at times, they are there to prevent accidents and to protect your company from liability as well. Your fleet manager may need tools to help them track certain metrics, keep up with maintenance, and perform other tasks.
If you need to be more agile and responsive in your deliveries, you may want to consider hotshot trucking. You can review what this is online to determine what it will mean for your business. One important thing to understand is the requirements around electronic logging. Some drivers may need these logs and others may be exempt based on DOT regulations on hot shot trucking. You can also read more about selecting the electronic logging device that’s right for your business.
Training
Driver error is a factor in many crashes, not just commercial ones. Making sure that your drivers are experienced, have a good record, and undergo additional training once they are with your company are all important. You might assume that this kind of training is something that is only necessary if you actually have a fleet of professional drivers, but it’s necessary for everyone who drives for your business in any capacity, even occasionally. Training topics should include what to do if there is a vehicle breakdown or any other kind of maintenance issue or in case of an accident.
If your company has specialized vehicles, it is critical to make sure that all employees who operate them have the right experience, training, and licensing. You may need to do additional training in the aftermath of an accident or if any kind of new dangers are identified. It’s also a good idea to do some refresher training from time to time. Regulations change, equipment is upgraded, and knowledge can fade from the memory of even the most diligent employee.
Company Culture
There’s no point in spending a lot of money on safety technology and putting your employees through training if you’re then going to turn around and push them to drive when fatigued, during hazardous weather, or in other conditions that could put them in danger.
You should also avoid pushing them to drive faster in order to meet deadlines when road conditions or the speed limit does not allow it. Instead, you need to cultivate a culture of safety throughout your workplace.
While these are fairly obvious examples of disregarding the well-being of your employees, often a culture that does not prioritize safety is more subtle but no less dangerous. Leading by example is important as is encouraging and rewarding people who follow regulations or who report issues.
Your company should have a written policy that is easily accessible for all employees. One of the best ways to get buy-in from staff is to involve them in crafting a policy from the beginning. Your company could have a safety and health committee that includes employees from different departments.
Maintenance
Well-maintained vehicles will perform more reliably. Regular maintenance can also help identify issues that could lead to accidents.
There should be a regular schedule for maintenance plus procedures and checklists for reporting issues and making repairs. It’s also important that items such as seat belts and airbags are in good working order.
Routing
This can be tricky because there are a limited number of routes to various locations and sometimes none of them are ideal, not to mention the road innovations of the future are always changing, but routes should be chosen to maximize employee safety.
There are tools that can help you with this planning, some of which allow for real-time tracking and coaching. However, even if you don’t have these, there are several things you can do to improve routing.
Prioritize choosing safer routes and avoiding those where a high number of accidents are known to happen when at all possible. Keep an eye on weather forecasts and make alternate plans or anticipate delays if there is heavy snow, rain, or other conditions that could make driving dangerous.
