Work Truck Magazine, December 2017

P Some best practices to address preventable accidents include u Secure a solid fleet safety policy u Utilize telematics data u Have a solid foundation for First Notice of Loss FNL SHIVE LeasePlan CANDIB Merchants Fleet Management Preventable accidents are defined by the National Safety Council NSC as An occurrence involving an employer owned or leased vehicle that results in an accident in which the driver in question failed to exercise every reasonable precaution to prevent it The big takeaway that a fleet professional should consider here is the driver failing to exercise precautions to prevent the accident from happening If a driver is unable to respond in a timely manner to prevent a crash from occurring he or she is likely responsible for it taking place In an attempt to prevent this from happening fleets can look to utilizing best safety practices and assess the effectiveness of their current safety policy However identifying what constitutes a preventable accident can be dicey to determine Having a good sense of identifying preventable accidents and how to best address them can go a long way in helping eliminate them altogether Fleet safety experts provide their insights to help better understand what some of the best practices are for understanding and assessing preventable accidents Training and Policy The No 1 idea that is stressed across the board as a means to reduce preventable accidents is to establish a sound safety policy And a fundamental element of any safety policy is the practice of educating and instilling drivers on defensive driving according to Dan Shive VP risk management services client success for LeasePlan According to Jerry Veres safety program coordinator for Fleet Response some additional key elements that should be laid out in a fleet safety policy as a means to eliminate preventable accidents include Total preventable accidents allowed per year Drug testing policy including pre employment post accident and random Total moving violations allowed per year personal and commercial vehicles Types of moving violations that disqualify employment and or driving for the fleet motor carrier How and when to report all accidents Minimum annual review of each drivers motor vehicle record MVR Tom Sloan director of telematics and safety product Donlen said that fleets should engage in a multi tiered approach to reduce the number of preventable accidents in fleet But simply laying out the details of the policy is not enough regularly advocating the key components of the policy and regularly training drivers is necessary Enrolling existing drivers and new hires in safety training programs on a consistent basis will keep safety top of mind said Emily Candib assistant director product management for Merchants Fleet Management Veres echoed similar sentiments If the training is not consistent then the drivers ability to perceive potential hazards will be reduced and the companys overall safety culture will not change he said Additionally making sure that the terms and processes of these policies are clearly laid out for drivers is crucial The most important aspect of a fleet policy is that it establishes clear and concise rules that govern how drivers should act when behind the wheel of their company provided vehicles In regards to preventing accidents these guidelines should cover phone use company mandated safety training and can even note that if a driver is found as being at fault in a preventWhile having a robust fleet safety policy will help prevent accidents from occurring for fleets technologies such as telematics can help also greatly curb preventable accidents 16 WORK TRUCK DECEMBER 2017 AT A GLANCE BY ANDY LUNDIN Identifying and Reducing Preventable Accidents One of the biggest issues with accidents is determining whether an incident can be classified as preventable or non preventable