NEWS

Last Friday, whilst having lunch at a coffee shop, my eye caught sight of a sad newspaper article with the headline: “Mother killed at zebra crossing after lorry driver ignores alarm”.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3813702/Lorry-driver-25-killed-mother-one-freak-crash-metal-arm-fell-truck-ignored-alarm-jailed-four-years.html

Of course, as I work for a fleet risk management company, the subject was highly relevant to me so I read it all.  In this case Judge Heather Lloyd concluded that a company driver, Mr. W Stewart, age 25, was cutting corners that day, when the accident occurred. He was frustrated of being held up for longer than expected.

“He was so lax in concentration and behaviour that he did not notice the crossing or Miss Thorpe and ignored the alarm constantly beeping” … “This was no oversight, this was no mechanical failure. No one is to blame, but you and as a result a family is left bereft and a child without a mother”. 

The article went on to explain how Mr. Stewart was fired from his previous job after having two previous accidents. In one of these he had demolished a customer’s wall during a delivery and in the other he had hit someone’s vehicle and then failed to stop.

At this point, my blood was boiling as I considered why and how his current employer had managed to completely miss the fact that Mr. Stewart was clearly a high risk driver before handing him the keys to a large goods vehicle and placing him under the cover of a fleet insurance policy.

Of course, typical business structures tend to create separate departments for HR, Health & Safety and Transport and this is possibly where part of the problem lies. The challenge is how to co-ordinate the interests of all three disciplines in a way that serves the best interests of the business, so I considered which of these departments would and should be held responsible for this dreadful accident.

Hiring new drivers has not suddenly become more complicated but this accident does raise the issue of what, in reality, do employers ask before hiring a driver and handing over the keys. Is it just common sense? Do we take up references? Do we perform tests to check that a CV is accurate?  For all these reasons it is surely critical that a new driver induction process must become a formal element of any recruitment policy.

Therefore when hiring a new employee who will drive on business, let us consider what needs to be happen first?

A physical meeting should take place between the new driver and a qualified assessor who will conduct:

• An on-road driving assessment (including vehicle check procedures)
• A simple eyesight test
• A review of the company safety policy (including mobiles, fatigue etc.), vehicle security, breakdown recovery and accident procedures
• A driver Licence check to confirm eligibility and to discover any historic endorsements.
• An online driver assessment designed to reveal level of knowledge, technical competence, attitude to risk and the driver’s behavioural profile.
• A signed disclosure of accidents incurred in the last five years.

So, how best can businesses implement all this in practice?

First, the driver induction process should be covered in the interview stage so that any conditions that exist to prevent the application from progressing can be identified early.

Second, the newly hired driver should be ‘on probation’ and not given a formal ‘permit to drive’ until the induction process is completed and any follow-up action (such as training or references have also been satisfactorily completed)

Third, once induction is successful, every driver should be allocated a qualified ‘personal risk manager’ who then takes the driver through the risk program, gathers all the ongoing risk data, analyses any adverse results and alerts the employer.  Thereafter, the most suitable remedy can be agreed and put in place.

Fourth, the ‘permit to drive’ is constantly adjusted (and broadcast) according to levels of discovered risk and an award/recognition program is attached to the highest levels. The awards are designed to incentivise drivers to reach the highest levels of the ‘permit to drive’ scheme.

Please contact RVM Assist on 0113 224 8800 and speak to the Operations Manager to learn more about how our induction courses work and what we do thereafter to reduce claims, protect your reputation, maintain your legal compliance and increase driving safety.

Diana Rose

Managing Director

RVM Assist Ltd