This Factsheet, issued by Global Fleet Champions, suggests that a well-integrated safe and sustainable journeys policy is essential for any organisation. It can help a business to achieve:
fewer collisions and other road incidents
lower repair costs and insurance premiums
reduced vehicle downtime
improved corporate reputation
better staff morale and wellbeing
cleaner, safer air in your communities.
It explains that safety policies and procedures must be aligned with an organisation’s operational needs so that safety can always be prioritised. Drivers must be confident that they will not be penalised for taking actions to protect themselves and others from the risk of a crash.
Policies must also be specific to an organisation; a template taken from somewhere else may not align with specific needs, which could have disastrous consequences for safety.
A fleet safety policy should underline that journeys made on behalf of an organisation will ‘do no harm’. This includes journeys made by employees, contractors and sub-contractors. An effective policy emphasises the need to protect all road users, especially vulnerable road users like children, older people and people who walk or cycle.
The policy should cover:
appropriate speeds
licence and health checking
mobile phone use
fatigue management
journey routing and modal choice.
The full Factsheet is available here.
Brake June 2021