This fact sheet provides an overview of the Utilities Forum Benchmarking and Structure

Purpose

To provide a forum where organisations from the utility sector can discuss what their major transport risks are, how they are mitigated, benchmark their road safety performance and how the key KPIs are influenced.

Background

Within this fact sheet utilities are defined as electricity, gas, telecommunications and water service providers.

The Australian utilities sector is extremely diverse but often state focused in its operations. The type of transport-related operations involved in utility operations requires a complex mix of vehicles to maintain the assets they are responsible for. Vehicles range from light to heavy and often include customised vehicles for specific tasks relating to the asset. Depending upon the utility provider, maintaining the company’s assets may also include establishing and servicing roads to access them. These road assets may be publicly accessible or solely for the use of the utility provider.

The utility sector is relatively siloed when it comes to sharing knowledge between states, services and organisations. During the recent National Benchmarking Project consultation undertaken by NRSPP, a consistent theme which emerged from the workshops was the value of bringing together service providers to exchange knowledge on how each organisation approaches and deals with their road safety risk. The departing question posed was could a collaborative forum be held nationally and regularly?

Scope

The Utility Forum will explore how organisations within the sector effectively manage their road transport risk and promote road safety.

Core components will include:

  • Size and scope of the risk problem – national and local level
  • Awareness of the key issues and risks
  • How different organisations manage risk (share the tools and process utilised)
  • Safe systems approach to road safety
  • Opportunities for utility providers to promote road safety strategies to their peers and into the community where they operate.

Forum dates and location

The inaugural Utilities Forum was held in Adelaide on the 22 July 2015 and will be hosted by SA Power Networks and will be facilitated by Tim Roberts

The second Utilities Forum was held in Melbourne hosted by Telstra on the 25 August 2016.

The third will be held in Perth hosted by Water Corporation on the 31 August.

Benchmarking The KPIs which will be utilised for benchmarking are based on those identified through the National Benchmarking Project which is currently being finalised by the funder, NRMA/ACT Road Safety Trust. The final draft paper is available upon request.

Outcomes

These include:

  1. Common understanding among utility providers of the size and scope of workplace road safety risk.
  2. Employees understand the risk to themselves before they choose to drive.
  3. Identify solutions such as the various tools, policies and methodologies for how to manage identified risks.
  4. Increased awareness of road safety among the communities that utility providers operate within.
  5. Established data set of key measure for road related risks.
  6. Established peer-to-peer network to share and collaborate on transport related risks and draw on research evidence within the ARRB national transport library.

Outputs

These include:

  1. Summary of key risks and initiatives introduced to manage them.
  2. What research and evidence has been conducted which can be included.
  3. Summary and prioritisation of key KPIs for the sector.
  4. Initiatives utilised to improve key KPIs.
  5. A NRSPP case study on the top utility organisation from the forum.