Fleet Health & Safety compliance is a specialised area and Crash Management MD Karen Knight was invited to present to the Institute of Safety Managers’ AGM on the subject last week. The discussion included a range of measures intended to both reduce incidents and also provide driver support services when incidents occur. New Zealand has an extremely high ownership of vehicles, there are over 4.72Million vehicles registered for use on our roads across a population of 4.69Million and we have a high accident rate by global standards. The combined social & economic cost to the country resulting from car accidents last year alone was estimated at $3.29 Billion.
There are a range of preventative measures available to serve fleet health & safety and help reduce accidents, and some specialised resources available to provide a high level of driver support and instant assistance when car accidents occur. These resources were discussed along with input from the professional Health & Safety Managers present and it was agreed that the measures would all help fleet operators comply with the Health & Safety at Work Act. Some of the topics included:
- Fleet fit for purpose analysis. The market rate for this averages around $2000 however Crash Management has a contracted provider that will waive this fee for us and/or our business partners and clients
- Preventative maintenance software and driver phone apps. Again Crash Management has access to a leading edge provider and preferential rates.
- GPS & telematics provider. This includes an after-market GPS unit that integrates an automated impact alert to Crash Management for instant response and driver assistance.
- Breakdown/roadside assistance provider, cost discounted to as little as $25/year per vehicle for Crash Management and/or our business partners and clients. (this includes flat tyre & flat battery service, lost key/key lock-out response etc)
- Vehicle use policy tailored to our client’s business and operational needs, providing front-line driver education, checks & balances.
- Automated driver licence checks & controls
Crash Management’s best-of-breed offering was also profiled at the Safety AGM and won high praise for the comprehensive and cost-effective driver response, logistics co-ordination and detailed incident data reporting that is delivered to fleet operators in real time. This enables analysis of car accident causes, trends and recidivist drivers so that remedial action can be taken based on information specific to that fleet.
Crash Management serves some of New Zealand’s largest corporations with fleet health & safety, but also the many thousands of SME fleets that make up 80% of the country’s market place. Safety Managers rightly identified that SME owner/managers would be non-specialists in this area, potentially under-resourced and time-poor, and would welcome pragmatic cost-effective solutions. Interestingly, it was suggested that small fleets may not even identify as a fleet, but rather just an understanding that the company runs ‘a few cars or vans’. This thinking is problematic in itself, and the Safety Managers agreed that these businesses will completely under-estimate or even over-look the fact that these small fleets must comply with the intent of the H&S legislation to take all practical steps to protect drivers and provide the resources to support them. This will be particularly critical in injury accidents or other emergencies.
The potential penalties for non-compliance are sever. Large and small business fleet operators can protect themselves from this risk very cheaply – from as little as a few dollars a month. Talk to Crash Management for a no obligation discussion and cost effective solutions before it’s too late.
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