What is Fleet Training?

To assess the company car driver, identify the driving risk element to your company, either low, medium or high risk. Dependant upon risk factor and whether additional driver training is required. It should also mean financial savings for your company.

Company Responsibilities - Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.

It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as it is reasonably practicable, the Health & Safety and welfare at work of all their employees.

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 places a duty on the employers to assess and manage all risks to their employees and others arising from work activities. Employers must also make arrangements to ensure Health & Safety of the workplace including making arrangements for emergencies, and providing adequate information and training for employees.

Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The act sets out new offences for convicting an organisation when a gross failure in the way activities were managed or organised results in a person’s death. (It will be corporate homicide in Scotland).

Fleet managers have a duty of care towards their staff to see that they receive training in company vehicles.

Companies of all sizes are constantly looking for ways to reduce their fleet fuel bills and general running costs and insurance, therefore, increasingly become interested in Eco-Safe driving methods. Developing correct attitudes not only saves lives but can also reduce fuel usage by up to 10%, making training a cost effective option.

How to develop correct attitudes to managing your Fleet of vehicles.

In any given year, excessive and inappropriate speed kills around 1,200 people and injures over 100,000 more. This is the largest contributor to casualties; most crashes are predictable and are caused by thoughtless behaviour. Fleet trainers are expected to identify the individual needs of those who drive for a living or have to drive as part of their daily routine in order to attend meetings and other appointments.

Company Benefits

• Reduced liability.
• Reduced running costs.
• 10-15% reduction in fuel bills.
• Reduced insurance claims therefore reducing insurance costs.
• Increased productivity.
• Reduction in road collisions leading to reduction in employee absence and vehicle of road.
• Reduced maintenance requirement through improved vehicle sympathy = less cost!
• Reduced stress of all employees.
• All points will be discussed with individual drivers. A written report will be presented on all assessed drivers.

Statistics

• It has been estimated that a third of all road traffic accidents involve somebody who is at work.
• This could account for 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries every week.
• Many incidents happen due to inattention and distraction as well as failure to observe the Highway Code.
• More than 90% of accidents are caused by human error.
• Traffic collisions account for almost 50% of all accidental deaths road traffic accidents are responsible for nearly a quarter of all adult deaths under the age of 30.
• 90% of accidents occur on roads that drivers are familiar with.
• The average driver covers about 12,000 miles a year and has a 1 in 7 chance of having a collision during that time, higher mileage drivers the risk is greater.

This is where you as the employer should consider the steps to ensure your employees are as safe as possible on the road.

Overview

Companies and organisations can now be found guilty of Corporate Manslaughter (Corporate manslaughter act 2007), as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of the relevant duty of care. (Health & Safety act 2007).

Your company can have considerable penalties or fines as high as 10% of a company’s annual turnover. If your company fails to comply with the Act. In the worst-case scenario the potential fall out could be significant.

With the revision of this legislation coming into force companies and their directors now need to be aware of the specific responsibilities now upon them.

The new law (Health & Safety act 2007) will focus the attention of companies and organisation’s the need to ensure that they take their health and safety obligations seriously.

On April 6, 2008 the long awaited Corporate Manslaughter Act came into effect. Companies and organisations whose gross negligence causes the death of an individual now face prosecution for manslaughter.

Most significantly is the need to ensure that any individual who drives in the course of their job or for business purposes must have their competency assessed!

A quick check of your employees driving license is not enough. The regulations require you to periodically review your risk, so that it remains appropriate for all employees driving in the course of the companies business, in either a company car or their own vehicle.

If your company has one or more persons who drive a vehicle in relation to their work then you will benefit from fleet driver assessment.

Fleet driver training will seriously reduce accidents and costs, increase productivity, and reduce stress related illness.

Many insurance companies offer a reduction in premiums for those companies who have their drivers regularly assessed by a DSA Fleet Registered Trainer.

Who is a company car driver?

Sales executive’s can sometimes be perceived as arrogant, aggressive, owning the road, typical white van man does what he wants with a similar approach, both driver ‘types’ are often perceived as aggressive and often rude whilst on the road.

These people represent your company. You would not employ someone aggressive and rude to answer your phone!

Your drivers are an integral part of your business, could you function without them. You have the responsibility to help keep them safe whilst driving.

Fleet driver training not only helps with driving skills, it will also help drivers drive more efficiently thereby reducing costs and stress, it highlights the importance of vehicle safety, again this will help reduce costs as well as accident prevention.

In addition to this fleet managers have a duty of care towards their staff to ensure they receive training within company vehicles, (Health & Safety Act 2007).

Companies of all sizes are constantly looking for ways to reduce their fuel bills and general running costs therefore, they increasingly become interested in Eco- safe driving methods, and developing correct attitudes not only saves lives but can also reduce fuel usage.

ECO (green driving) driving for economy and low CO2 emissions

• How you drive effects the atmosphere, producing harmful c02 emissions.
• Smooth driving reduces fuel consumption.
• Good forward planning, anticipating traffic, gentle rather than harsh accelerating and braking.
• Anticipate traffic flow; be prepared to adjust your speed.
• Change upward gears at the right time - at 2000rpm for diesel cars / 2500rpm for petrol cars.
• Use higher gears when you can.
• These are just a few points more will be discussed with your company car users.

BubbLe Driver Training is an associate partner of Any Driver Ltd (Training providers) http://www.anydriver.co.uk

Bubble Driver Training is a subsidiary of Bubble Driving School. Our Fleet assessment and training is to the highest of standards. Along with our business aim to provide driver training to both learner drivers, both manual and automatic, and provide towing training to the highest degree.