This article was first published by Fleet Auto News and picks up on the IPWEA Plant and Vehicle Management Manual approach to safer driving.

By Caroline Falls

In 2014, 71 workers died on the roads, making up 31% of all workplace deaths, according to a study by finder.com.au of Work Safe Australia 2014 data. It showed road freight transport was the biggest workplace killer in the 11 years to 2014, with 423 fatalities. Road passenger transport showed 31 fatalities in the same time frame.

With statistics like these, driver safety is a major concern for fleet managers.

Managing driver safety is the topic of one of the longest of 19 sections in the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia’s (IPWEA) Plant and Vehicle Management Manual.  It sets out a step-by-step approach to best practice for safer driving. The practice is broken down into five steps: safe work driving policy and procedures; data collection an analysis; behavioural change program; vehicles safety; and, assurance audit and review.

As the manual states, Australian workplace legislation deems a motor vehicle, truck or item of mobile plant as a workplace. It also states employers are liable for ensuring the safety of employees by providing a safe work environment and safe equipment. The section gives guidance on how to satisfy duty-of-care obligations of employers in relation to occupational health and safety legislation.

The section discusses how to apply safer driving systems from a variety of perspectives – safer managers (ensuring work practices underpin safer driving practices); safer drivers (trained and motivated in safe driving practices); safer vehicles (vehicles selected with safety prioritised); and, safer work systems (management systems that reinforce safe practices).

On driver training for example, the manual states: “Driver training should be considered for all employees. This is not 'skid control' type training where the focus is on vehicle control, but situational awareness training where the cause will alert drivers to the real hazards they face at normal road speeds with elements such as fatigue inattention and distance between you and the vehicle in front.”

Vehicle driver induction is also discussed. Some of the considerations in this area include: operating features of the vehicle, pre-start checks, and changing tyres.

The IPWEA manual is a how-to guide to setting up a fleet management program. It covers topics such as rightsizing the fleet, minimising unscheduled repairs, returning the best value on capital investment, deciding whether to buy or hire equipment, buying and disposing of equipment and embedding key performance indicators.

Fleet Auto News is running a series of articles based on the manual. This article is based on the third edition of Plant and Vehicle Management Manual, Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia. More information on the manual is available here.