Toyota Fleet Launches Risk Management Workshop Programme
The coming year will bring a number of issues to the forefront for Fleet Managers not least CO2 and the link to benefit in kind taxation but also the increasing importance of a risk management approach. This covers vehicle condition and maintenance as well as drivers and the way in which they behave in their vehicle on company business.
As a fleet operator in its own right, Toyota Fleet has researched this hot issue. It concluded that the full scale of the danger was not widely appreciated, and that its best step would be to share this knowledge with its customers. Which is why, over the space of a year from
25 April, it is linking up with the RAC to present its Risk Management Workshop programme.
At each workshop some 25 delegates will be taken through a series of exercises to ensure that they understand both the risks and solutions. They will leave with a pack of administrative tools to help them steer clear of trouble. With new, tougher legislation in the pipeline, Toyota Fleet is keen that as many fleet managers as possible attend the courses.
Research
So why has no one thought to take this important step before? The grim fact is that almost two-thirds of Britain’s 3.4 million business cars and commercials are involved in a crash every 12 months, not including private vehicles used on company business, for which employers can also be held responsible.
The risk of death on Britain’s roads for company drivers is 1 in 8,000. Every day sees an average 1,000 injuries and 10 deaths overall – how many of those accidents could land an employer in the dock? Under legislation governing workplace safety, fleet operators owe a duty of care to their drivers and can be held “vicariously liable” for harm caused through their negligence.
Monitoring Drivers’ Activities
Responsible employers have their staff’s welfare at heart, but it’s too easy for employees on the road to be out of sight, out of mind. Toyota Fleet wants to show fleet operators that it is in their own interests to monitor drivers’ activities more closely, and not simply for self-protection. Not only does such action minimise the risk of prosecution, but it boosts a corporate image, avoids unexpected disruptions – and makes commercial sense.
Assessment and Safety System
The starting point, as delegates to the Risk Management Workshops will hear, is to carry out full risk assessments on each driver. There is nothing new about this – the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 introduced the concept of risk assessment for drivers, and a company’s failure to carry out a proper assessment could be grounds for prosecution under the HSW Act 1974, leading to imprisonment and unlimited financial penalties for directors and managers.
Having carried out the assessment, a safety system can be put in place. A key requirement is to ensure that work schedules do not cause employees to drive for excessive hours. An over-tired driver involved in an accident could be regarded as “foreseeable” in law, as in the Bowles case.
The company can also ensure that its drivers are suitably licensed for the vehicles they are driving. It can also insist on being informed of any accidents that occur. Developing a system for checking vehicle condition will be another subject covered by the workshops.
“Safe fleets are efficient fleets,” says Jon Pollock, General Manager, Toyota Fleet. “Within those organisations, life becomes simpler for managers and directors, which in turn reduces costs. Also, companies do best when staff are in front of customers or doing the jobs they’re paid to do, rather than sitting in crashed cars, recovering in hospital, or worse.”
ENDS
