Blogs
A Guide to Applying Road Safety within a Workplace
Background to the guide
The following provides acknowledgment of the international efforts being undertaken to improve road safety outcomes as well a short overview of the current status of work related road safety within Australian and New Zealand.
International - Decade of Action
Road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death globally, and the leading cause of death for young people aged 15–29. More than a million people die each year on the world’s roads, and the cost of dealing with the consequences of these road traffic crashes runs to billions of dollars. Unless urgent action is taken, current trends suggest that by 2030 road traffic deaths will become the fifth leading cause of death.
In 2010 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. Australia and New Zealand are both signatories to the UN resolution and have committed to support the Decade of Action. As part of this commitment the Governments commend the initiative and encourage government and non-government organisations to act.
See www.decadeofaction.org for additional information on this global program.
ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety Management
ISO 39001 is an international standard recently developed to assist in managing and improving road safety performance within an organisation. It provides a structured and holistic approach to road safety that is complementary to existing programs; procedures and regulations that are already establish through other ISO standards. ISO 39001 contains very useful information to assist the practitioner in addressing work related road safety risk. It is recommended that organisations refer to ISO39001 to obtain a greater knowledge of the “Road Traffic Safety Management” standard and associated processes.
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/ catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=44958
Consider applying ISO 39001 to your organisation.
The ISO standard specifies a management system which focuses the organisation on:
• Developing a road safety policy from informed consideration of its current situation and a commitment to improvement (through a series of steps);
• Assessment of risks and opportunities informed by consideration of work related road safety performance factors and key performance indicators (PF’s or KPI’s);
• Selecting a number of these key work related road safety PF’s / KPI’s for use (which are most relevant to the organisation); and
• Adopting work related road safety objectives and targets that reflect the adopted policy position of the organisation and are supported by action plans for activities that will realise these goals - through using a Safe System approach.
It is suggested that the scale and scope of an organisation’s road related activities will usually determine whether a commitment would be made to adopting and implementing the ISO standard. It is acknowledged that there is applicability within the standard for all organisations. Smaller organisations may be unlikely to engage in the accreditation process but the principles and elements in the standard offer guidance. The approach of this guide and particularly, Chapter 4 - Reviewing your organisation’s work related road safety management capacity and the checklists (Annex A - C) are influenced by and endeavour to reflect the standard.
Australian statistics – work related road safety
Work-related road crashes in Australia account for about 50% of all occupational fatalities and 15 % of national road deaths. Many people are killed or seriously injured while travelling to and from work (ATC, 2011). The National Road Safety Strategy 2011–2020 states that ‘on average, company drivers travel more than twice the annual distance of private car drivers and have about 50 % more incidents.
For many businesses, vehicles and driving for work purposes are the greatest risk to employees. Therefore opportunities exist to improve road safety by working closely with organisations and employers’ (NRSPP, 2013).
In 2009-10, 337 people died in Australia from a work-related traumatic injury. Of these, 75% were injured at work and 25% were travelling to or from work.
The risk of being involved in a fatality while driving 40,000km a year has been estimated at 1 in 8000. This estimate is consistent with fatality estimates within mining, 25% higher than construction and much higher than agriculture - 1 in 13,500, (Zurich, 2011).
(www.nrspp.org.au, 2013)
New Zealand statistics – work related road safety
Work-related traffic fatalities represent the greatest proportion of work-related death in New Zealand – approximately 30% of workplace deaths, as well as 13% of workplace injuries. This creates a major burden for employers and New Zealand as a whole. As fleet vehicles make up a large part of New Zealand’s total fleet, it is vital that business owners and fleet operators keep their employees as safe as possible while on the road.
The total social cost of motor vehicle injury crashes in 2009 (the latest available figure ) has been estimated at approximately $3.67 billion, including loss of life and life quality, productivity, medical, legal and property damage costs. The average cost of a crash involving a fatality or permanent disability outcome for that year was $4.1 million.
With 373 fatalities in the 2010 calendar year, the total cost is substantial and so are the on-going effects, impacting on workplaces, families and the larger community.
(www.fleetsafety.govt.nz, 2013)
INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDE
Purpose of the guide
Within Australia and New Zealand a high proportion of road related trauma is linked to work related purposes. It should be noted that this trauma is relevant to more than vehicle use although the majority is driving related. It also includes cycling and pedestrian road related trauma. Therefore, organisations large and small have an opportunity and obligation to share the responsibility to mitigate the risk of road trauma both locally and at a national level.
Ultimately, road safety, both within an organisation and in the community environment, requires leadership, support and willingness to act. This guide has been developed as a learning and enabling tool to support and focus an organisations willingness to act.
By mobilising organisations, applying a focus on road related risk reduction and gaining a greater understanding of road safety concepts, these organisations will more actively participate in the Decade of Action for Road Safety, sharing responsibility for road safety and helping to keep employees, employee’s families and local communities safer on our roads.
There will be substantial learning ahead as the Guide is applied within industry in both countries. It is suggested that the document would benefit from review in two to three years from its initial publication as experience with usage grows and as further needs and ideas for improved guidance emerge.
Target audience for the guide
The primary audience for this guide is work related road safety practitioners – who are looking for guidance on ‘how’ to address the (small or medium or large) organisation’s road safety challenges and opportunities. The guide also provides chapter summaries at the start of each chapter for senior management use, providing enough information to ensure that questions are asked across strategic management and operational functions within an organisation’s road safety related management and risk mitigation.
This guide is intended to be applicable to the small enterprise that is concerned about its one or two employees and wanting to ensure that the organisation is doing all it can to mitigate the risks of road use. The guide is also targeted to the other extreme of a multinational organisation undertaking a significant expansion project with thousands of employees and contractors and delivering a massive impact upon the local and regional road transport system.
The guide therefore covers simple steps for starting out for a small organisation through to identifying more complex approaches appropriate to for larger organisations. The guide assumes that a workplace can be either a public or private entity, multi-nationalto single operator, heavy or light fleet operating in either Australia or New Zealand.
The greatest challenge for the user is to review the concepts and principles and more detailed guidance contained within the guide and consider the applicability to the organisations operations and strategic management, assuming a willingness by organisations to act.
Organisation’s road safety responsibilities
Key Question: What are the obligations for organisations that use the road network to ensure the safety of employees, including the safety of their workplace conditions and of their public road use?
All those using the road network, either as pedestrians, cyclists or in a vehicle, have a responsibility to act in a safe manner.
Organisations are required to manage their activities and those of their employees to meet the specified requirements of the law, whether that is corporate law, occupational health and safety laws, road safety laws or other laws.
Occupational Health and Safety legislation in Australia and New Zealand sets out the employers duty of care or responsibility in terms such as “to provide or maintain so far as is reasonably practicable a safe and healthy working environment for their employees” and there are the road safety laws and rules in each country that apply to all users of the road system. Activities such as ordering or consigning goods or services which involve road travel by employees, contractors and other parties need to be considered in this context.
An increasingly proactive approach is required by organisations to respond to these obligations: to promote safe practices, train staff in safe operation and ensure safe vehicles and safe operating practices for the organisation - and in the organisations sphere of influence (suppliers and customers) - are embedded in the way the organisation operates.
For more information on the OH&S Acts:
• Australia - Work Health and Safety Act 2011 ° http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/ C2013C00253
• New Zealand - Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
° http://legislation.govt.nz/act/ public/1992/0096/latest/DLM278829.htmll
(New Zealand is currently undergoing a review of the Act which should be released in the first half of 2015)
Using this guide
The reader is encouraged to read through the guide and then consider the manner in which the advice and recommended processes identified can be applied to the organisation’s operations to facilitate safety improvement. Throughout the guide a number of key questions are provided to encourage organisations to consider various issues and their implications.
For a small company, that has one, two or three vehicles - or even an organisation that has no vehicles at all - relating to an international agreement between countries, the UN Decade of Action, is hardly feasible. Therefore more user friendly and relevant suggestions have been provided throughout the guide.
For those medium to larger organisations. this guide will provide some robust starting points which can be scaled, adopted, developed and further evolved to meet or enhance an organisations already existing road safety related development and implementation needs.
For the multinational organisations that are involved in nationally significant development projects and/ or transporting goods nationally, this guide also identifies some significant opportunities to change traditional road safety approaches, which have the potential to deliver nationally significant outcomes, including the opportunity for adopting 5 star safety rated vehicles, interactions with the public sector about the design and development of safer roads, roadsides and speed limits and the establishment of road safety Alliances and collaborative working groups. This is of course not intended to understate the work of many organisations who are adopting leading edge road safety approaches. They are to be congratulated.
Within this guide there are resources and references referred to which would further assist organisations to improve their work related road safety. The guide is not intended to replicate what others have already published, but rather provide directions to other resources and encourage the reader to use them. Many of these materials are readily available through either the Australian National Road Safety Partnership Program or the New Zealand Fleet Safety Programme.
Australian Road Safety Partnership Program – www.nrspp.org.au
New Zealand Fleet Safety Programme – www.fleetsafety.govt.nz
Benefits of addressing road safety within a workplace
Research has revealed that organisations who have already invested in road safety initiatives consider that these efforts have been rewarded through an improved safety culture and outcomes and lower operating costs. For example, cost savings have included decreased insurance premiums, and less fuel use, vehicle maintenance, fleet damage and staff absenteeism associated with travel related injuries.
A short list of work related road safety benefits achieved through organisational focus and commitment and staff knowledge development includes:
• Reduction in the number of actual or potential road traffic crashes and injuries;
• Reduced sickness and injury absence;
• Retained corporate knowledge, less reliance on the use of temporary staff;
• Reduced risk of being sued for negligence;
• Reduced repair bills;
• Reduction in number of insurance claims and costs;
• Improved social responsibility credentials and corporate image;
• Increased customer confidence;
• Tendering advantages; and
• Increased staff morale
Summary of chapters
• Chapter one explores a range of commonly identified work related road safety issues that impact on work related road safety within organisational settings.
• Chapter two provides an overview of the Safe System approach to road safety and assists the reader in better understanding some of the complexities and interrelationships of key road safety elements.
• Chapter three outlines various practical considerations and opportunities to assist in incorporating and adopting a safe system approach within a work setting.
• Chapter four encourages organisations to consider reviewing their management system capacity to address work related road safety within an organisation. This is a key step in determining the current position and required changes to the management system to improve future road safety performance. In particular it provides a framework which organisations can use that is consistent with World Bank – Country Capacity Review Guidelines and the ISO 39001 Standard.
• Chapter five considers the process of auditing, monitoring and evaluation required for continuous improvement.
Limitations of this guide
The guide is not intended to be comprehensive, covering all work related situations, organisations and possible risks. It draws upon holistic road safety principles and the experience of its contributors to identify practical and effective steps that can be taken within a workplace or organisation, and as such reflects the views of those involved in its production. It is recommended that this guide be viewed in accordance with your local legislative requirements.
There may be successful interventions that are not reported within this guide. Similarly, the case studies within this guide have been used to illustrate processes, good practice and practical constraints – they are not exhaustive but merely illustrate positive ideas and outcomes.
This guide is not intended to be presented as an academic document. The references contained are only to material used in its development, and there is no attempt at an exhaustive literature review.
Distribution of this guide
The guide is available in PDF format to be downloaded free from the websites of all partner organisations. Distribution will be through the NRSPP website and the ACC NZ Fleet Safety Programme.
• National Road Safety Partnership Program Australia - www.nrspp.org.au
• Fleet Safety Programme New Zealand - www.fleetsafety.govt.nz
