Local governments and councils are getting more and more mobile every year which is why road safety applications are vital to protect them.
Councils are some of the biggest employers in Australia and there is a range of different positions on offer, many of which can be surprising to those that have stereotyped views of a council worker.
There are numerous trade and labour positions including electricians, plumbers, boilermakers, mechanics, builders, fitters and turners and much more that work on various council and city vehicles and infrastructure.
Professional roles include engineers, environmental health officers, landscape architects, information and communication technology experts and much, much more.
There are delivery drivers, site inspectors, supervisors and managers of mobile workers and teams, marketing, communications and public relations experts, architecture professionals – the list goes on.
The one unifying theme? These workers, qualified tradespeople and professionals all need to travel from site to site to perform their duties.
When you are talking about councils with geographic footprints that cover up to 379,571 square kilometres (Pilbara Regional Council, Western Australia) and service up 1.2 million people (Brisbane City Council, Queensland), that adds up to large workforces travelling long distances.
Would you know if a council worker was in trouble on the road?
When it comes to safety and compliance, protecting mobile council workers is essential. Safe Work Australia statistics show that over 30 per cent of all worker fatalities are caused by vehicle collisions.
If a council worker was to be involved in a vehicle accident, time is imperative when it comes to emergency services response. But when you are dealing with wide geographic areas and rural and regional areas the issue of mobile reception becomes a real problem.
What would happen if a worker was incapacitated by a vehicle accident and could not dial for help? What would happen if they could not dial for help because of reception issues?
JMS (Journey Management System) is a completely automated app that addresses these issues by monitoring the trips of every council worker and ensuring they arrive safely at their destinations.
How JMS works and how it can protect your fleet of mobile council workers
The important part of journey management is not only knowing where your workers are and responding immediately when there is a problem, but also ensuring these workers are able to drive without interacting with their mobile device.
JMS allows council workers and managers to input journeys into the app and then the entire process is automated (unlike other journey management providers).
Destinations along the journey are geofenced, so if the driver fails to reach a town or other predetermined landmark in a certain timeframe, alerts are sent to managers via SMS, email and push notifications.
Fatigue management compliance is also taken care of with JMS
It is vital that drivers take breaks on the road, especially if they are driving for long periods of time and/or over long distances.
Fatigue management is a critical part of any risk assessment for mobile workers, but at the end of the day can you be certain that workers are adhering to these guidelines when they are out on the road by themselves?
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) research has shown that sleepiness contributes to 20-30 per cent of all deaths and severe injuries on the road which highlights why breaks are vital to prevent driver impairment and unnecessary risk.
Fatigue management stops can be included in journeys put into JMS and these stops are also geofenced so alerts are sent if a driver fails to stop. The app will also deliver voice reminders in vehicle to let drivers know a rest or break stop is coming up.
New partnership makes JMS the only journey management provider to fully protect those driving electric vehicles
There has been a large shift towards electric vehicles by councils around Australia to help reduce their carbon footprint and provide cleaner, greener options for their workers.
The Cities Power Partnership was established in 2017 by Australian councils looking to drive climate change solutions and over 120 councils have become members of this partnership, spanning over 300 towns and cities and representing over half of the Australian population.
JMS recently signed a partnership with global fleet management solutions leaders Geotab which means that we can exclusively provide in-vehicle monitoring systems supplied by Geotab that runs in tandem with our software.
And Geotab is the only company providing an IVMS that monitors electric vehicles, essential for industries moving towards electric fleets – like Australian councils.
JMS provides a total road safety software solution for local councils across Australia that allows them to be Safety Guardians for all of their workers that need to drive as part of their job.
For more information on our software, the Geotab IVMS devices that can be included and the features that will protect your council workers, please email JMS at info@jmsapp.com.au or contact us on 1300 379 577.
