Are you finding HR issues within
fleet management a real minefield?
The Way
HR issues are complex
before you start to even
think about the HR
department’s link to the
fleet. Daily challenges include recruiting
employees, arranging and carrying out
training, preventing discrimination and
ensuring compliance, to name but a
few.
H
These tasks are integral to the running
of the company. And vehicle
management should be taken just as
seriously. For instance, business owners
would never think of allowing
employees to operate dangerous
machinery without stringent safety
measures and policies in place; but such
measures are often overlooked when it
comes to vehicles.
Research carried out by Brake, the road
safety charity, found that in a single
year*:
1,901 people were killed in road
traffic accidents
23,122 were maimed or disabled
178,927 were injured
Or in other words, every single day…
5 people were killed
63 people had life-changing injuries
60,000 ‘bent metal’ incidents
occurred.
These powerful numbers speak for
themselves. Vehicles need to be treated
with the same caution and governance
as any dangerous machinery if you are
to avoid exposing your staff to
unnecessary risk.
And what’s more, those behind the
wheel must be equally governed.
Training, assessing and continuously
educating staff about driving standards
is crucial if you are to stand a chance of
mitigating what is one of the greatest
risks that companies, and ultimately
their directors, face.
Here are the steps you can take to
ensure they are under control.
Train your drivers.
All types of business rely on road
logistics in one way or another. Most
companies would be unable to function
without some kind of transport
happening during the working week.
Safe driving is an issue that extends far
beyond work-related travel. Every road
user has an obligation to contribute
positively towards a universal culture of
road safety and compliance; the
consequences of ignoring this
responsibility are just too drastic to
overlook. When driving on business
however, the impact of poor driving is
even greater; affecting company
reputation, employee well-being and
increasing costs as well.
FACT: 31% of UK businesses with 100 or
more employees are doing nothing to
address driver behaviour, nor are 62% of
companies with less than 100
employees.1
Furthermore, 70% of British drivers
claim that they aren’t given any training
or risk management by their employer,
despite routinely driving as part of their
jobs. The Masternaut study that
uncovered these statistics also reveals
that 40% of British business drivers are
unaware of any legislation surrounding
work-related road safety.
Fleet related law makes it clear that it is
an employer’s responsibility to ensure
their staff that drive for the business are
not a hazard to themselves or to other
road users. The very fact that 70% of
drivers in the workplace are not being
given any form of training to ensure
they drive safely and efficiently is a
grave indication either of ignorance or
incompetence on the part of business
operators.
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