The secret to vehicle collision prevention is to have regular interactions with your employees who drive for work purposes. In some organisations, if a driver isn’t causing any kind of problem, they don’t have a meaningful conversation with their manager in weeks or even months. If that individual is feeling stressed over something in or outside work, it could affect their fitness to drive. The first anyone might know about it is when the collision occurs. So interaction with your drivers is key.
There are lots of opportunities to create interactions with drivers on fleet safety issues. These touchpoints need to happen on a regular basis, they need to be relevant to driving and topical and they can really move your fleet risk management programme forward.
Providing positive feedback, delivering a toolbox talk, carrying out a Highway Code style eyesight check, they are all good touchpoints. They remind your driver that your organisation has driving standards to meet.
Of particular value is the 1 to 1 meeting. I know it’s a simple concept, but they work really well. Yes, they take time, but they build trust and engagement and they reduce staff turnover. We also recommend that driving standards are discussed at the probation sign off meeting and at regular performance appraisals.
The process also gets your manager improving their communication skills and they will be better at supporting the driving performance of your employees. It’s this support and coaching from the manager to the driver that is the real secret to vehicle collision prevention.
Make sure you hold these meetings regularly. Don’t cancel them, you’ll send the impression that they are not important, but do reschedule them. I can’t tell you how often to hold these meetings because it depends on your supervisory span of control, but surely you can hold them at least monthly?
To access all the material you need to establish regular interactions on fleet safety with your driver, go to fleetsafetyacademy.co.uk
