Overview of the report
The report presents the main elements of Work Related Road Safety (WRRS) management as a means of addressing work-related road risks. It commences by outlining why employers should address WRRS and by giving ideas on where to begin within individual organisations. Part of this is making the business case for managing road risk and demonstrating where savings can be made by investing proactively in road safety by employers. The third section looks at the importance of leadership in introducing a WRRS programme and integrating that into a management structure. Different models of management are presented briefly with structures aimed at managing risk. The following section focuses on risk assessment explaining how ultimately this aims to eliminate risk altogether and, if this is not possible, looking at how to minimise it. It presents the approach to risk assessment and then applies it specifically to transport. The report then looks at which indicators should be monitored and evaluated and gives suggestions on how this should be undertaken.
The report underlines the need to consider the driver, the journey and the vehicle. Driver management and internal communication is presented alongside an introduction to journey management. The importance of preparing a work-related road safety policy is discussed and a possible sample is included. The report also includes a summary of key measures to tackle common risk areas for WRRS such as speed, alcohol, drugs and medicine, fatigue and distraction. The final part looks at what should be dealt with in the area of vehicle management and maintenance. A recent review stressed the need to raise levels of evaluation of the management approach to work related driver safety to support the interventions at the organisational level. The report refers extensively to the other reports prepared in the context of the PRAISE project2.
Part 1 Where to start?
Taking responsibility to improve WRRS will improve road safety as a whole in Europe; 31,000 lives were lost on European roads in 2011, of those a large percentage were related to driving for work or commuting. Figures show that road traffic collisions3 accounted for nearly 40% of incidents at work resulting in death4. Furthermore, it makes sound business sense to draw up and implement a WRRS management programme as will be examined in this PRAISE Thematic Report.
Duty of care, occupational health and safety and road safety compliance are legal necessities in all EU Member States, and are an essential consideration for employers. The European Framework Directive 89/391/EEC on the health and safety of workers6 requires every employer in Europe to undertake a risk assessment according to the principles of prevention.
This should include employees travelling for work. Some Member States have supplementary legislation detailing employers’ obligations to eliminate risks related to driving for work. Member States have also developed specific guidance on applying the Framework Directive to WRRS. Employers must ask themselves if they are compliant with this EU and supplementary national level legislation.