Concluding Road Safety Week 2015

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that every 12 minutes someone dies in a vehicle collision and every 5 seconds a crash occurs. The large majority of these accidents happen during workday hours, mostly within the to and from work commute. This can then directly effect the driver or even employer with a ton of different short and long term costs depending on the damage and injuries incurred. You would think that these costs would provide enough motivation to avoid risky driving behaviour but a research study by The Nielson & Harris Poll confirms otherwise.

For example, 2,045 adults were surveyed between May 27th and May 29th, 2014. Over 90% of those surveyed agreed texting while driving is a dangerous activity, however, over 70% admitted to doing so anyway.

Posting on social media, watching online videos, doing your makeup/hair, and driving after having a few drinks is common practice for many. All drivers make the choice to preform these unsafe driving actions, why not make the smarter choice to keep you and the others on the road safe?

As a fleet manager, it can be hard to face the fact that even though your drivers are aware of what is dangerous, they still do it anyway. Simply educating your drivers with safe driving practices may not be enough.

So how exactly can fleet managers and supervisors effectively reduce on-road risks, improve driver safety, illustrate measurable improvements, while still somehow managing their daily operations?

Implementing a Driver Safety Program

One of the most effective ways to improve on-road safety is by developing and actively implementing a driver safety program. Investing in workplace health and safety initiatives that are being backed by the support of an organization’s most senior levels of leadership has been known to result in a reduced number of illnesses, injuries and fatalities.