What’s the secret to maintaining a good driver safety record within your organisation? Research shows that the answer can be summed up in one word:
Culture
By “culture”, we mean the way in which safety is guided and managed in the workplace.
Companies with a positive safety culture are characterised by a commitment to safety, shared care and concern for hazards including a willingness to reflect on practice and how to improve.
At DriverMetrics®, we’ve worked with hundreds of fleet managers around the world since 2005, enabling us to observe how the most successful strive to maintain a positive safety culture.
Here are 10 habits of these fleet managers, that stand out above all others…
1 – Ensure that you recruit and select experienced drivers with safe records.
2 – Implement a scientifically validated tool such as DriverMetrics® Profiling to identify high risk behaviours.
3 – Ensure that all people who drive a company vehicle are legally entitled to drive with a current valid licence.
4 – Focus on making sure, that so far as is practicable that all drivers are fit to drive.
5 – Maintain company vehicles to a mechanically safe standard.
6 – Ensure that route risk assessments have been conducted if necessary.
7 – Provide drivers with targeted interventions to address high risk behaviours.
8 – Focus on ensuring that anyone driving a company vehicle complies with policies and procedures.
9 – Monitor driving standards and safety performance and strive for continual improvement.
10 – Investigate all incidents to determine causes and amend your fleet safety programme accordingly.
In short, the key to a positive safety culture lies in a demonstrated commitment to safety by fleet safety managers and their leaders.
This commitment helps to create an atmosphere where involvement in safety by the entire workforce is the norm. Your culture won’t change overnight, but by developing these habits you will see your company gradually climb the safety ladder step by step.