Any time a business has a fleet, driver safety is always important as is the safety of any crew member who rides in the vehicle as well. Sometimes deliveries are heavy, requiring two employees to lift and move items, and other times drivers may be going out on their own. In either case, the safety of any fleet employee is a huge concern. The following tips can help to ensure the safety of all involved.
Require Fleet Driver Safety Training
Even if your drivers are required to have a commercial-grade license, fleet driver safety training paid for by the company can offer that extra level of knowledge needed on roadways today. Also, as technology advances, drivers may want to be apprised of how to use the latest advances and what to watch for in vehicles around them that may be relying on technology to navigate the roads they are on. Technology is good, but only to the extent it is used in conjunction with human interaction.
Create Company Fleet Safety Policies
In fact, any time you have a company fleet of vehicles you should also have created standardized fleet safety policies. It is suggested that HR holds a ‘training’ session in which the manual is gone over, and drivers are required to sign their book to show they have attended the session and understand what they have read. The signed page should be torn out, a copy given to the driver for their personal records, and the original kept in the employee’s file.
Incentivize Safe Drivers
Sometimes this is referred to as rewarding drivers for maintaining a safe driving history with no at-fault accidents or mobile offenses/tickets. If a driver was able to avoid a not-at-fault scenario, the ‘reward’ could be greater. The object of incentivizing safe driving skills is twofold. Firstly, drivers who aren’t involved in any accidents have a clean driving history, which will almost always result in a better price on your fleet vehicle insurance. Secondly, those drivers have exhibited the skills and experience necessary to safely navigate roadways in all kinds of weather and driving conditions. That is truly something to be proud of.
Schedule Regular Fleet Vehicle Safety Inspections
Another way in which to ensure the safety of your fleet team is to have those vehicles brought in routinely for inspection and maintenance as required. Sometimes such things as a small bubble on the inside of a tire where it can’t be spotted easily can result in a blowout, especially on a fast-moving interstate highway. Altogether too often, blowouts are the cause of major accidents on freeways. The vehicle’s braking system is also a huge risk, so preauthorized inspections and maintenance can help to avoid loss of control when braking.
Equip Fleet Vehicles with Latest Safety Technology
Above we mentioned technology that can be the ultimate cause of an accident if a driver relies totally on the side and rear proximity warnings. Some vehicles are also equipped with rear cameras so that a driver can refer to them as well as having a visual when backing up. Technology is amazing, but only to the extent that it is not relied on all of the time.
Do you have a fleet of company vehicles? If so, there is much you can do to mitigate risks, which will help to keep your employees safe and any other people or property free from sustaining potentially life-threatening injury or total loss of property. Providing driving safety classes for your fleet employees is really the ethical thing to do.
