The purpose of this report is to give an overview of van safety issues in Europe, and to encourage and enable van fleet operators to navigate European legislation and apply good practice measures for their drivers and businesses. In line with frameworks such as ISO 39001 or the Haddon Matrix, the report focuses on the business case, vehicle management, journey management and compliance-led driver management.
The purpose of this report is to give an overview of van safety issues in Europe, and to encourage and enable van fleet operators to navigate European legislation and apply good practice measures for their drivers and businesses. In line with frameworks such as ISO 39001 or the Haddon Matrix, the report focuses on the business case, vehicle management, journey management and compliance-led driver management.
While ETSC believes it is in the public interest to tackle safety issues associated with this vehicle category at the European and Member State legislative and non-legislative level, employers should also work to reduce the overall risk exposure of van drivers and ensure that drivers and their vehicles are fit for the road.
With this in mind, we offer recommendations to businesses throughout the report, together with policy recommendations for national and European-level legislators.
1.1 The business case for safer van transport
Studies into the road safety culture of employers of van drivers have shown that the motivation to manage risk goes beyond drivers – the company culture and the role of management are highly important deciding factors for the degree to which road safety gets attention1. Research into this field has shown that safety measures are more accepted, more effective and even more efficient when they connect to the company’s core business – both for internal business measures and governmental2. Contractors, maintenance companies, couriers and SMEs should gain more insight into the positive consequences of safe behaviour as this might provide an important business incentive to invest in safety.
From a business perspective, managing road safety in the van transport sector will provide employers with an opportunity to reduce costs in several ways:
- Reduced running costs such as fuel consumption and vehicle maintenance through better driving standards
- Reduced risk of work-related ill heath
- Less stress and better job satisfaction
- Reduced vehicle damage
- Reduced administration around incident investigation
- Reduced insurance claims and premiums
- Fewer vehicles off the road for repair
- Less employee absenteeism
- Fewer missed orders and business opportunities.