Website reveals fleet safety concerns

The findings of a benchmarking website launched earlier this year have revealed that a third of fleet operators are failing to meet their safety obligations.

The Fleet Safety Benchmarking project is run by the Fleet Safety Forum, a division of road safety charity Brake, in partnership with risk management company Interactive Driving Systems.

Funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), it allows companies to anonymously compare their fleet safety procedures and crash data with other companies.

Since April, the project has analysed results from 170 fleet managers and found that only 47% of companies have a Safety, Health and Environmental Management policy.

What’s more, just 44% are optimising work schedules and travel requirements to minimise road risks and encourage drivers to keep within the speed limit.

Dr Will Murray, research director at Interactive Driving Systems, said that although many companies were moving towards setting up the necessary procedures, the results are a worry for fleet safety in the UK.

Jools Townsend, head of education at Brake, said that the charity hoped the benchmarking website will highlight areas of concern for companies and enable them to keep up with the best fleet safety practice.

Fleets can sign up free of charge to benchmark their driver safety by logging on to www.fleetsafetybenchmarketing.net