Nine out of ten crashes are caused by human factors rather than issues with the vehicle or road conditions. Contributing factors often include known risks specific to driving such as speeding, fatigue, or phone use. But, they could just as easily be a wide range of other thoughts that distract your driver from the task of driving: Are they under work pressure to meet unrealistic targets? Are they driving vehicles they are not confident with? Are there tensions between drivers and managers? Distractions can also stem from personal concerns, such as financial difficulties, health issues, or relationship worries. Wherever these stresses and distractions stem from, they result in the driver not focusing on the task in hand, and that can lead to crashes that endanger both your own drivers and other road users, as well as contributing to significant service delivery disruption and increases in operational costs.
Simon will look at what employers can do to identify and mitigate these risks along with some of the free resources available to employers through the Driving for Better Business programme.