With one-third of all road crashes still involving vehicles driven on business road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has produced a short video highlighting the issue.
Every day around 150 vehicles driven on business crash, and each year there are 14,000 road deaths and serious injuries in involving people at work. IAM RoadSmart is dedicated to reducing these numbers through its Driving for Work programme.
IAM RoadSmart Business has a range of information, on-road training and seminars to help businesses meet their duty of care responsibility and comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; but also help their drivers reduce the likelihood of a crash and drive more efficiently – saving fuel, reducing stress and cutting insurance premiums.
The video showcases some of the techniques highlighted during Driving for Work courses, including ‘spoken thought’ which encourages drivers to describe what they are seeing and act accordingly: “observation anticipation and planning” says Shaun Cronin, regional service delivery team manager south – allow the driver to predict what other road users might do next.
Gary Bishop, fleet manager for Cannon Hygiene, said in the video, “Businesses train their new employees with their smartphones and laptops, but what they do forget is most of the time those people are on the road driving – the most dangerous thing you can do for work is drive. I want to promote the fact that more training should be given.”
Lesley Upham, IAM RoadSmart commercial director, said, “There are many factors to consider when it comes to offering training to business drivers. The cost element is a major one; just think of the impact on your profits of a 35% saving in crashes or a 55% saving in fuel. But the primary consideration has to be the human factor. Quite apart from the stress level amongst business drivers who are often required to keep working as they drive, one-third of all road accidents involve people on business. We cannot have so many business drives ending in shock, injury and sometimes tragedy.”