Effective Occupational Road Safety Programs

Abstract

Despite an increasing interest in the potential of occupational road safety (often called fleet safety) to help governments improve road safety and to help organizations reduce human and asset damage, generate business efficiencies, ensure legal compliance, and cut costs, few published case studies of organizations have effectively managed this risk. This paper addresses this research gap by developing and evaluating an effective process for improving occupational road safety through a case study of Wolseley, which has invested in a detailed fleet program over the past 4 years on the basis of research and experience from around the world. A chronological case study approach describes Wolseley; the processes applied to review, benchmark, and manage its occupational road safety; and project implementation, project outcomes evaluation, and ongoing steps. It also sets out the lessons learned for researchers, policy makers, and other organizations. Over 4 years Wolseley has improved its process audit scores, halved its third-party collision rate, and gained a number of wider benefits by adopting a holistic approach. Despite several barriers, the ongoing program continues to show measurable successes on all its key performance indicators.