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Driver Risk Management – Getting It Right

28 January 2020

6 Benefits of Driver Risk Management

Roughly every 16 minutes, someone is killed or seriously injured on UK roads. Of these, 1 in 3 fatalities are caused by people driving for work. Due to these sobering statistics, it’s essential that fleet managers address the risks that come with driving professionally every day.

Furthermore, managing the aftermath of a serious road traffic accident (RTA) is horrible. Stressful, emotional, and costly – in both time and money. This stress is doubled for transport industry workers, as by default your livelihood is on the line when you, or a member of your fleet, are involved in an RTA.

By law, employers must have a driver risk management programme in place that ensures that all drivers are appropriately licenced for the vehicle they drive, that the vehicles are safe and roadworthy, and that work-related journeys are safe. But this is only a bare minimum, that should be complemented with training, and in-depth audits of your fleet, to create a detailed driver risk management policy that is tailored to your organisation.

Read on to discover the benefits that investing time into creating a comprehensive driver risk management programme can bring, from reduced costs, to saving lives.

1. Improve Road Safety

A key component in driver risk management is analysing driver behaviour. This is essential, as many drivers have the theoretical knowledge to drive safely, but often, in real-life situations, behavioural aspects get in the way. By doing risk assessment surveys, and using these learnings to input prevention strategies, transport managers can make the roads a safer place.

2. Reduce the Likelihood of Serious Incidents

Whilst a proper driver risk management policy can’t prevent an accident from happening, it can make it less likely. Ultimately, self-aware drivers are safe drivers. By implanting training courses such as our Driver CPC Driver Risk Awareness Module, you can ensure that your drivers are aware of all the potential hazards on the road, as well as their own behaviour whilst driving for work. This reduces the risk of them being seriously injured themselves, or injuring pedestrians or other road users.

3. Save Your Fleet Money

We all know that collisions are costly, but it’s all the extra insurance, legal and even speeding costs, on top of initial repair costs, that can add up to create a financial problem for a transport business. Driver risk management can reduce these costs dramatically, by reducing the number and severity of collisions.

Not only will you have to pay out for fewer third-party claims, you’ll also save money on your fleet-wide insurance, and fewer accidents mean lower premiums. Also, with fewer drivers involved in serious incidents, you won’t lose money whilst drivers are injured and unable to work.

4: Avoid ‘At Fault’ Claims

‘At Fault’ claims cover all incidents where drivers are unable to recover the costs from the other driver or person in the incident. It does not always mean that the driver is 100% to blame for the accident, but often it is usually the case that they were at least partly to blame.

These are the most expensive type of accident, as insurance will not cover all of the costs, meaning that any way you can reduce the number of ‘at fault’ incidents in your fleet will save considerable money. Driver risk training, and frequent detailed surveys such as our Fleet Risk Audit, are ideal ways to reduce the likelihood of your drivers becoming involved in ‘at fault’ claims.

5. Protect Your Business Reputation

If you regularly network within the transport industry, having lots of accidents on record within your fleet is bound to negatively affect your reputation as a logistics company. However, if you actively engage with driver risk management and train your drivers to be self-aware on the road, then this can only positively impact your reputation.

6. Store Driver Data and Track Risks Over Time

A key part of driver risk management is logging all incidents and complaints and having defined processes in place to organise this data. Once you have a system in place, you can analyse your fleet’s accidents over time, and determine whether the level of risk is increasing or decreasing. By doing this you can best judge whether you need to increase the level of training you’re offering your fleet.

To sum up, the key elements of a successful driver risk management policy are:

  • To develop a formal policy, document it, and review it regularly
  • To circulating the policy across all drivers, including your grey fleet
  • To collate and record data, and have processes in place to interpret the data and draw meaningful conclusions
  • To invest in targeted training – whether online, in classroom or in the vehicle

For information about how DriverHire can help you develop an effective driver risk management strategy, call us today on 01274 511511 or email drivewise@driverhire.co.uk