FLEET TRAINING with Jim Harrison ADI
Occupational Road Risk (ORR) Assessment
and Management.
What is OCCUPATIONAL ROAD RISK?
It is the assessment and management of work related road safety.
Who needs it?
All company employees who drive a vehicle (car/van) as part of their normal
working day (including anyone who drives their own car/van).
Why do you need it?
• Drivers who cover more than 20,000 miles a year have a 1 in 8000 chance of death or serious injury.
• Company vehicles are involved in 20 deaths and 250 serious injuries each week.
• 33% of all company vehicles will be involved in some form of road accident in the next 12 months.
• Five times more people are killed driving for work than any other industrial accident.
The Law, Occupational Road Risk (ORR) and your company.
Employers must carry out a risk assessment for company drivers to ensure their
health and safety whilst they are driving at work, it must also be taken into
account other people who may be affected by their work activities. They should
consider work related road safety in the same way they would consider any other
operation/equipment use in an office, workshop or site.
Fleetcraft
How can "Driving's Cool" help your company?
We provide a quick and simple risk assessment system
To help your company to:
• Comply with OCCUPATIONAL ROAD RISK (ORR) legislation.
• Identify at risk drivers.
• Reduce the number of accidents your company drivers are involved in (with driver improvement training).
Driver improvement training which could help your company make the following savings:
• Insurance premium reduction. 15% subject to previous claims record, and fleet size.
• Improved fuel consumption, at least 7%.
• At least 5% reduction in ware and tear on brakes, clutches and tyres.
• Residual value of vehicle increases by a minimum of 5% when driven by a trained driver.
• Loss of time
Other driving training courses:
• Principles of defensive driving
• Vehicle safety checks
• Pre employment assessment drives
• Principles of eco driving
• Speed awareness
Work Related Road Safety (cars and vans)
Background:
According to recent industrial statistics a driver who covers more than 20,000
miles per year has a 1 in 8,000 chance of being involved in a serious or fatal
accident. It has also been established that up to one third of all road traffic
accidents involves someone who is driving for work and may account for over
20 fatalities and some 250 serious injuries each week.
It is a fact that driving is the most dangerous task the majority of employees
undertake whilst at work. In fact five times as many people are killed while
driving for work than any other industrial accident.
It is important to realise that 66% of all company owned vehicles will be involved in some form of road accident in the next 12 months.
In light of these shocking figures the Health and Safety
Executive and Police joined forces to
encourage companies to introduce occupational road risk management schemes.
However because most companies have failed to comply with this voluntarily,
legislation has been introduced to force compliance.
The Law
Health and Safety law requires employers, and the self employed to ensure, so
far as can be
reasonably practical, the health, safety and welfare of all employees, at all
times. Employers also have a responsibility to ensure that others are not but
at risk by the work activities of their
employees.
If any employee has an accident while driving at work (be it in a car, van or even their own car/van and the employer has not complied with the Occupational Road Risk (ORR) legislation they could be at risk of a hefty fine or prison term and even being charged with (in the case of a fatal accident) corporate manslaughter.
Some employers believe, incorrectly, that providing they
comply with certain road traffic law
requirements, such as ensuring that company vehicles have a valid MOT certificate,
they are doing all that is necessary to ensure the safety of their employees
when on the road.
Although the driver is ultimately responsible for how a vehicle is driven on
the road the employer can have a significant influence on what the driver does.
For example, the imposition of unrealistic schedules, inadequate training and
failure to properly maintain vehicles, all increase the risk of road accidents
To comply with the Health and Safety Act Work 1974, employers have a statutory duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees at work, (this includes any driving for work). Also the Use of Work Equipment regulation act 1998 states that it should be suitable for the task and that the operator should be trained in its operation (Legal experts have concluded that this also includes employee owned equipment/tools i.e. the employees own vehicle driven on behalf of the business).
There are a further 18 pieces of legislation, guidelines and protocols which impact on driving at work including the working time directive.
The management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires every employer to carry out an assessment of the risk to health and safety of their employees, or themselves while they are at work, and to other people who may be affected by their work activities. Employers should consider employees competence and training needed as a driver on the road, in the same way as for those employees in the work place. The regulations also require the risk assessment to be reviewed periodically to ensure that it remains valid.
The Price of Road Accidents to Business
British business loses £13 billion per year because of road traffic accidents
involving people driving for work. With typical repair costs ranging between
£259 and £4550 per claim. The HSE has calculated that for every
œ1 recovered from insurance following an accident anything between £8
and £36 may be lost by the company through uninsured costs.
Example. A business with a turnover of £5,000,000 with
a sales return of 5% and a fleet of 20
vehicles with a typical accident rate would have to increase sales by £460,000
in order to retain the same profit as a company without company vehicles.
These additional costs are due to the following:
• Claims administration
• Time loss
• Re-scheduling of work
• Investigation costs
• Loss of orders
• Prosecution costs
• Reduced morale
• Increased insurance premiums
• Vehicle hire
• Overtime/Agency cover
• High stress levels
• Reduced residual value
• Loss of staff time for injuries
• Legal action
Newspaper Headlines such as:
"Cyclist receives £9 million damages after a company car driver (employed
by company ABC) drove over the cyclist while using a hands free mobile phone,
leaving the cyclist paralysed from the neck down"
This affects both the named companies image and its brand value and can have a significant effect on a companies (share) value.
Directors of a north east company escaped prosecution after one of its employees admitted causing death by dangerous driving. The accident happened whilst the driver was talking on his mobile phone. The company proved that it had issued a written instruction to all its drivers not to use mobile phones while driving. The company directors were cleared. The driver was not so lucky and received a custodial sentence.
Risk Management and Fleet Cost Reduction
Large cost savings can be made by the introduction of a quality risk management
program which includes appropriate Fleet Driver Development Training.
Typically:
• Insurance premium reduction. 15% subject to previous claims record and
fleet size.
• Improved fuel consumption ,at least 7%.
• At least 5% reduction on wear and tear on brakes, tyres and clutch.
• Residual value of vehicle increased by a minimum of 5% when driven by
trained driver.
• Fewer accidents.
• Less loss of time.
• Lower administration time.
Conclusion
Driving at work is a high risk activity. When things go wrong the cost can be
substantial in both time and money. Ignoring Occupational Road Risk (ORR) is
not a sound business decision. By assessing, measuring and managing Work Related
Road Safety a company can not only comply with its legal obligation and reduce
the number of accidents involving its vehicles but also increase its bottom
line profit.
Contact Jim Harrison at "Drivings Cool" for further information.
Links (open in new window)
www.orsa.org.uk
www.rospa.com/drivertraining/morr/index.htm
Or, Google: Occupational Road Risk