VEHICLE & FLEET SAFETY DRIVING DATA
Martin Hiscox, Chairman and CEO of Masternaut, urges businesses to delve deeper into the data of telematics to keep drivers safe in 2015.
Irrespective of industry, there is a huge emphasis on the importance of health and safety in the workplace. Employees are often required to undergo training in areas such as general first aid, workplace risk assessment and moving and handling. It is surprising, then, that the number of companies giving their staff driver safety training is actually very low.
Driving is the most common form of commuting to work, with 2011 UK census data revealing that 57.5% of the working population drives to work. Even for businesses in which employees are required to be constantly on the road (such as delivery companies and truck hauliers) driver safety is rarely at the forefront. It is estimated that a third of all road traffic accidents are work-related, accounting for nearly 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries every week. Work-related motorists are also said to be twice as likely to crash as private motorists.
“COMPANIES HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN POSITIVE DRIVER BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE.”
In an attempt to help businesses keep their staff safe on the road, businesses such as Masternaut gather real-time driver data, which lets us know the exact cause of any incidents. All too often, they are a result of poor driver behaviour. Alongside speed, driver error is cited in over two thirds of collisions or incidents. Injudicious action (summarised as driving too fast for conditions or failure to obey an instruction) is cited a further 26% of the time. When compared to something like vehicle defects (cited in 1.9% of cases) the true picture of driver performance emerges. The simple message is that vehicles don’t cause incidents – drivers do.
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Technology has a major part to play in fostering safe driving. Telematics and tracking are increasingly being adopted in UK businesses where driving is fundamental, such as the fleet industry. Driven largely by the desire to reduce emissions and cost, driver performance management services have predominantly focused on improving fuel economy. However the by-product is that, as an industry, telematics providers have gathered hundreds of thousands of hours worth of driving data, which paints a much broader overview of driver performance.
When it comes to business, companies have a vested interest in positive driver behavioural change. Telematics and tracking technology can help identify those drivers who could benefit from some development or coaching and, similarly, assist in recognising and rewarding those that are performing well at the wheel.
Telematics started out as a simple vehicle-tracking platform enabling businesses to receive positioning updates every minute, but the applications of telematics have grown to provide businesses with so much more. Through installing a small box into the vehicle called an IN-CAB dashboard, managers are able to monitor an array of driving habits; events such as speeding, harsh braking and accelerating are all recorded. Telematics providers are able to take a positional feed every 20 seconds, which allows businesses to review thousands of hours of data in seconds. This information highlights any exceptions, along with driving trends that provide opportunities to optimise your business.
Businesses need to take more initiative when it comes to their employees on the road. It can be a huge shock to see that a high percentage are regularly exceeding speed limits and it’s no surprise some may be avoiding this information for fear that they are at risk of culpable prosecution. This attitude
“WORK-RELATED MOTORISTS ARE SAID TO BE TWICE AS LIKELY TO CRASH AS PRIVATE MOTORISTS.”
is unfortunate. Telematics exists as prevention, not just a cure. There are companies like Masternaut, as well as charitable organisations including Brake and The Institute of Advance Drivers (IAM), that are here to help implement and manage change as well as educate drivers. When lives are at stake, along with the wellbeing of entire organisations, there can be little justification for not acting.
www.masternaut.com
www.tomorrowshs.com
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