By Robert Wilson, Manager IPWEA FLEET. 

Fleet safety is the most important part of a fleet manager's role.

On one hand, the fleet manager has responsibility for their team around the workshop, office and depot and on the other hand the broader role of providing fleet assets to support the safety of drivers/operators and the broader community. With all the other challenges facing fleet practitioners, it is sometimes hard to know where to start with improving safety. The following is a range of resources that can help you on the journey to a safer fleet.

From a general WH&S perspective, Safe Work Australia and the state and territory regulators have useful data and codes of practice. Some of these websites also contain fleet specific information such as WorkSafe Victoria’s Guide to Safe Work Related Driving. ACAP’s howsafeisyourcar.com.au also has useful information for fleet operators.

IPWEA publish the Plant and Vehicle Maintenance Safe Practice Guide which provides a practical approach to mechanical workshop and mechanical maintenance health and safety. The guide covers a broad range of areas such as; the workshop, high risk tasks, environmental considerations and so on. The guide can be used as a starting point in undertaking a fleet maintenance risk assessment or to cross check existing arrangements.

A useful resource is the International Standard ISO 39001:2012 Road Traffic Safety Management Systems. This document identifies sound management practices and systems requirements to support organisations achieve their safety objectives when operating a fleet including; leadership, policy, performance evaluation and improvement. The National Road Safety Partnership Program Australia (NRSPP) publishes A Guide to Applying Road Safety Within a Workplace. This document can be downloaded and is a practical, how-to guide to improving fleet safety that is aligned with the international standard. NRSPP also runs webinars and provides broad-ranging materials to support fleet safety and road safety more generally.

Fleet safety should be at the top of the fleet practitioner’s to-do list. Schedule it in now and review your current arrangements, then develop a plan for improvement. There is plenty of support available.