Managing Work Related road safety

2 Jun 2017

A vehicle pile up at a busy motorway junction was one of the scenarios facing health and safety managers responsible for work related road safety for their employees.

Fortunately it was just a tabletop exercise and the cars and vans involved in a number of collisions were all toys. But the message from TTC DriverProtect was deadly serious.

Health and safety managers from the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM) member companies turned collision investigators to debate how to avoid such collisions in the eye opening traffic scenes displayed at a trade association training event in the Midlands.

It’s a sobering thought that the six different incidents that the groups investigated had really happened and unfortunately still do,” said Adrian Hide, a Senior Consultant for the TTC Group, an award winning company which educates 330,000 drivers each year and helps fleets to reduce their risk.

He told managers how driver training plays an important part in their overall risk management strategy after delivering a workshop to explain legal responsibilities. A managed service such as TTC DriverProtect can “take the pain away” from managing work-related road safety.

“Driver error is responsible for 95% of collisions which means that we can do something about it. Driver training and a good risk management regime are key factors.”

Driving is the most dangerous work activity that most people do and employers are responsible for managing work-related road safety, said Adrian.

He presented a driver training workshop to more than 30 senior employees at National Metalforming in West Bromwich talking about effective observation and planning, speed, drink driving and how managers can help reduce the risk to staff by bringing in experts, such as TTC, to deliver appropriate driver training.

Each year in the UK more than 500 people are killed, more than 5,000 seriously hurt and more than 40,000 slightly injured in collisions involving a driver or rider, driving for work, he said.

“The toy vehicles helped to explain the various traffic scenarios which lead to fatalities and how together we can reduce those tragic statistics.”

Event organiser Kirsi Lintula, of the Confederation of British Metalforming, said: “It was a good group activity and very thought provoking. Managing road safety and driving for work is very important for us all.”

For more information about work related road safety please visit www.ttc-driverprotect.com or email [email protected] or call 01952 607182