Road safety is critical in many industries as accidents while operating vehicles or machinery are some of the leading causes of workplace injuries and fatalities.
According to the World Health Organisation’s road safety data, there are 1.35 million fatalities on the world’s roads every year.
And with many industries like the mining and resources sector, transport and oil and gas operations requiring extensive travel between job sites – the risk can become higher for workers.
That is why it is vital for organisations the require workers to travel for work to implement a range of measures to maximise their safety.
Ensure you are up-to-date with all industry compliance
Road safety regulations and laws are constantly changing and it is important that companies in all industries monitor these changes and update policies are required.
For example, the latest Global Status Report on Road Safety report revealed that 22 countries amended their road safety laws between 2015-18 alone.
Not only is it imperative to know any changes to road safety regulations and legislation to prevent injuries and deaths on and between job sites, but it is also important as companies can face heavy sanctions and compensation payouts for non-compliance.
Update your risk management strategy to include road safety
In many industries and for many company’s, driving is viewed as secondary to the individual workers’ primary job function.
That means risk management practices can sometimes focus less on road safety compared to other hazards experienced by workers during their day-to-day operations.
It is vital to consider driving to be a primary function of a worker’s job as this activity is one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and fatalities.
Encourage regular driver training for road safety
Even the safest drivers can benefit from regular training courses to refresh their skills and learn new techniques to manage dangerous situations that may arise on the road.
These training courses should be available to all workers that are required to drive as part of their job function.
There are online courses available to brush on road rules and how to manage emergency situations, as well as practical driving training and refresher courses.
Employers can also incentivise safe driving by offering rewards to workers with a strong road safety record.
Use journey management software
The modern world means we have greater scope to monitor staff journeys while they are travelling to a job or between job sites.
Journey Management System automates this process by allowing you to map these travel routes with checkpoints. If a driver does not reach these checkpoints during the designated time period – or fails to take designated fatigue management breaks – alerts are automatically sent to management through SMS, email and mobile audio.
This app uses both the mobile/cell signal of the driver’s device as well as GPS to ensure that this automated process works even in areas of low reception.
