Why GPS Tracking Can Help You Keep Your Fleets Safe
October 29, 2008 nnyq.com editAccording to the Health and Safe
ty Executive (HSE) over 10 million workers in the UK drive a licensed vehicle in connection with their work, whether its company car, taxi, or a bus. Under new Government legislation, employers have a duty of care to ensure so far as reasonable and practicable the health, safety and welfare of their employees whilst they are under their supervision.
Although there is no specific legislation relating to employer duties on road safety issues, employers are still responsible for the health and safety of their employees and under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must perform a risk assessment of all work activities including working on the roads.
For fleet managers, who must take responsibility for a number of vehicles and mobile workers, this legislation is particularly serious, especially considering the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. This act, alongside changes to existing road transport legislation, means that it is now more important than ever to carry out safety checks and risk assessments and implement policies and risk reduction procedures.
Any organisation that fails to meet their duty of care policies in such a way that results in the death of an employee whilst at work can be prosecuted by law. With the HSE indicating that nearly a third of the 3000 road traffic fatalities in the year 2000 being at work at the time the seriousness of this new legislation is clear. In addition to these laws an employer also still has legal obligations under the Road Traffic Act 1998/1991 and the Road vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
As a fleet manager, you should be well aware that monitoring and controlling your fleet safely is critical for your business and are likely to have put strict duty of care policies in place. One of these policies is likely to be regular assessments and auditing of all work related driving activities. Any employee whether in their own private vehicle or a company vehicle, and including employees who work at the road side is your responsibility as their employer.
Alongside ensuring that all employees are competent and fit to drive your vehicles it is your responsibility to provide adequate training and instruction where needed with regards to your own health and safety procedures. The state and condition of all vehicles used to perform your business is also your responsibility even if the vehicle in question does not belong to your company.
One of the many steps fleet managers can take to ensure that they meet with their duty of care obligations is to utilise GPS tracking technologies. GPS tracking can help to minimise the risk of a corporate manslaughter claim in many ways including providing real time geographic positioning of mobile workers.
Alongside tracking the location of each vehicle within your fleet, GPS tracking also allows you to monitor driver style and importantly the amount of time they have been driving. This is important to fleet managers as all drivers should only work according to the guidelines set out in the Working Time Directive (WTD).
The WTD was set up to help fleet managers adhere to driver’s hour’s regulations which stipulate how long is considered safe for one driver to be behind the wheel. When you consider that some 20,000 accidents were caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel during the year 2000, according to the London Hazards Centre, this is an important aspect of managing your fleet safely. GPS tracking systems can also help provide evidence if there ever was an accident as to the speed, direction and temperature of the vehicle in question.
Driver Behaviour is also important to fleet managers when assessing risks as drivers who are known to be harsh accelerators or frequently record heavy usages of breaks may need more supervision, these records also allow you to identify which driver styles tend to use less fuel and cause the least amount of wear and tear to your vehicles.
For more information on how GPS tracking systems can help to keep your fleet safe, visit www.supatrak.com
