BUSINESS LEADERS WARNED
25 November 2005 - Fleet Support Group

IGNORE WORK-RELATED ROAD SAFETY AT YOUR PERIL

Speaking about the implementation of a safer driving culture to an audience of senior business leaders, barrister Gerard Forlin - one of the Bar''s few workplace death specialists - warned that the merging of work-related road safety and corporate manslaughter would soon affect every business in the UK.

Lord MacLaurin, chairman of Vodafone, Geoffrey Bray, chairman of Fleet Support Group and Mike Appleby, solicitor and expert on corporate manslaughter and health and safety also spoke at the seminar held at the Institute of Directors, spelling out to British business the increasing importance of risk assessment in managing work-related road safety.

According to Forlin, the legal climate is changing fast: ''It''s a little known fact that of the 3,500 road deaths a year, more than 1,000 are caused while at work, and can involve anyone from the company chairman to the white van man.''

With the Corporate Manslaughter Bill looking set to become mandatory by the end of next year or early 2007, all the Crown has to show is that someone at senior management level has made a gross mistake. But, the procedural impact on large companies is already changing as fines are ramped up. Before August this year, £2 million was the highest fine paid - for the Paddington rail crash. In August, TransCo was fined £15 million, and in October 2005 there was a combined fine of £13.5 million in relation to the Hatfield derailment.

Explains Forlin: ''Since Lord Cullin''s report into the Paddington public inquiry, any time there is an accident or near miss – remember the Heath and Safety at Work act triggers at the point of risk – it is no longer just the front line operator, train driver, pilot, company car driver, air traffic controller who carries the can. He or she can now be seen as a ''victim'' and the focus is now on how his or her error should have been taken out by risk assessment and to what extent it is a system failure.

''Handling more than 30 fatalities a year, I''ve witnessed a complete shift in approach with directors being prosecuted individually in growing numbers as experts are brought in to explain why a mistake was made in the first place. And, once a company or organisation has lost a reputation, it''s very difficult to get it back.''

One way of managing Occupational Road Risk (ORR) is to assess driving performance on an ongoing basis, and Geoffrey Bray, chairman of Fleet Support Group then introduced ''RiskMaster'' - a new road-risk management programme. ''RiskMaster'' has already helped Barnes Group UK Limited cut accidents by 20%, maintenance costs by 15% and insurance premiums by a massive 40%.

''RiskMaster'' helps companies set clear objectives and asks fleet managers to apply for an on-line ''permit to drive'' for all drivers, including those employees driving non-company owned vehicles. Drivers are then asked a series of questions to establish ''fitness to drive''; this helps identify those who might need further training which is provided by RoSPA.

Acting as a management tool, ''RiskMaster'' utilises bespoke software to measure driving performance on an on-going basis, thereby ensuring safe driving and roadworthy vehicles.

Explains Geoffrey Bray: ''The object of ''RiskMaster'' is to change attitudes towards managing work-related road safety, and to promote a ''safe driving culture'', while at the same time reducing vehicle and associated costs. By acting on information pin-pointed by ''RiskMaster'', a company can demonstrate both corporate and social responsibility and protect its biggest asset, its people. Because the software is built on the basis of absolute compliance, both legal and operational, in the event of any major incident where a company is subject to investigation, its robust nature will satisfy the most stringent audit.''

Other points raised at the seminar include:

Personality types – common themes run throughout cases. Research shows certain types of people are more prone to accidents – such as type A men. Others are prone to addiction, and substance abuse is evident in a huge number of people driving whilst at work. One driver who killed a number of people by falling asleep at the wheel as he was ‘coming down’ from amphetamines said substance abuse is common as drivers are asked to achieve too much from line managers.

Screening potential employees – this should now include: how far they commute; any other jobs undertaken; screening for drugs, alcohol and personality – all these aspects should now be considered as the police take a more robust look at the whole area of work related deaths on the road.

Corporate investigations – in the last two months alone, Forlin has been instructed in three major road related corporate manslaughter investigations over work related deaths. Occurring in pockets – West of England, North West England, Scotland and the London area.

Responsibility – parent companies will be responsible for their subsidiaries. Do not underestimate the effect on corporate UK as the climate stiffens as police look at the whole area of road related deaths in the same way as any homicide investigation.

Health and Safety Record – when manufacturers tender for new work they have to disclose their health and safety record – if it''s bad it is unlikely the company will win the work. Also, any minor health and safety infringement goes on the Internet on a freely available ''name and shame'' list which is heavily monitored inter alia by the insurance industry, press and pressure groups.

The Government''s Corporate Manslaughter Bill – will apply when someone has been killed because the senior management of a company has grossly failed to take reasonable care of the safety of employees or others.

www.fsguk.com

More News
  For November 2005
  From Fleet Support Group
  For Safety
  Driver247.com Home Page