Health and Safety regulations can feel burdensome to follow, especially when a mobile workforce is involved. The whole organisation needs to be on board, or any given fleet accident could spell serious legal trouble for your company.

So, how do you ensure that you're addressing all of the hidden risks that come with managing a mobile workforce? The answer: by putting in place a good fleet risk management plan.

In this blog, we'll discuss how to carry out a risk management plan that does what it's intended to do - keep employees safe, and protect your company legally and financially.

Want to learn more about managing health and safety risk with a mobile workforce? Download our guide here.

Learn all you need to know about Fleet Risk Management here.

Step 1: Identify areas of risk in your business.

First, take stock of your drivers, who will naturally vary in their driving expertise. Note which ones are most at-risk - those who have demonstrated a pattern of driving errors, near-misses, and accidents. Those employees will need the most attention.

Also, make note of incident causes. For any given incident, the underlying issues can range from lack of driver safety training or pressure to rush to a destination, to excessive stress or fatigue. Assessing the cause will make the remedy clear.

Ultimately, to fully identify areas of risk, you'll want to construct a database of risk across all drivers, and fill in data over time. With this broad visibility, you'll know who to be watchful over, and where to focus preventative efforts.

Step 2. Engage with at-risk employees to discuss solutions.

Approach at-risk drivers and discuss the causes of past incidents with them. It's important that the driver has full awareness of what led to the incident, and the steps to ensure that no similar event happens again.

This remedial strategy is a proactive way of helping at-risk drivers address weak spots in-person. You'll want to openly talk about issues such as:

• History of driving incidents.
• Personal and environmental factors behind driving style.
• The driver's own input on the best way to self-monitor and move forward.
  
  

An open dialogue can reveal all about how manageable the issue is, and the best way to help the driver stay safe in the future, whether it's a change in scheduling, some remedial driver training, or adjustments to assigned routes.

Step 3. Develop a step-by-step action plan for lowering risk in identified areas

The one-on-one meeting with an at-risk driver should result in a tailored action plan. As part of the plan, the driver must commit to correcting his or her behaviour and approach to driving, in order to minimise future risk.

While personalised action plans are essential, you should also develop a company-wide policy that lowers risk across the board. This can include:

• Implementing a driver training programme that focuses on safety, awareness, and defensive driving best practices.
• Registering all fleet drivers on Driver Check, which lets you oversee driver licence status and any major changes.
• Having transparent, always-on reporting in place to keep track of vehicle condition and driver behaviour over time.
• Keeping a monthly report of driver safety stats and incidents for your company, in order to account for trends.

Ultimately, a strong risk management plan depends on constant visibility. With that, you'll be able to watch for trouble spots and proactively correct them before they become full-blown sources of risk.

To implement effective fleet risk management, identify at-risk workers, uncover causes, and facilitate corrective action.

While each step involves a lot of careful attention to detail, it will all result in business processes that are always compliant with H&S rules - and an organisation that's better-protected.

Want to learn more about managing health and safety risk with a mobile workforce? Download our guide here.