Vehicle Fleet Tracking Duty Of Care Management

Duty of Care management within the fleet industry is considered high priority even during tough economic periods. Prevention of accident , injury or loss is a crucial component to a vehicle fleet tracking system which impacts upon key areas such as insurance, as well as security and running cost efficiency.

The drive to push up productivity and cut running costs to the bone are at the forefront of concern for fleet owners who look to their control room managers to implement stringent procedures during uncertain economic times. Striving to complete ever tougher ‘ just in time’ delivery schedules means the key focus of attention is to tighten up workflow solutions and maintain strict monitoring of driving behaviour.

The likelihood is that increasing work pressure can often lead to creating the conditions for an incident, which could be both financially disastrous and result in a serious or fatal injury. According to industry research, at least a half of all company-owned fleet vehicles will be involved in an accident during a twelve month period, of which, three quarters are caused by the vehicle driver. Although most accidents involve driving into the back of the vehicle in front , other known types of vehicle incidents include colliding with a wall, the roof becoming stuck under a bridge or broken glass.

Preventing the risk of accident or injury to company employees through the implementation of a Duty of Care policy was introduced as a result of The Corporate Manslaughter Act and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force April 2008. A broad company strategy would now include making risk assessments, driver training, enforcing driving time limits and a vehicle tracking solution. Compliance and employer responsibility for managing risk with a mobile asset tracking system also becomes central to reducing fuel, maintenance and insurance costs.

Deploying a realtime vehicle tracking system enables vital decision-making based on constantly updating reports on traffic and weather conditions. Delivery instructions and timing schedules can all be subject to sudden changes, including any unforeseen incidents. Fleet controllers are able to improve working relationships with their vehicle drivers and field workers by helping make their daily operations run more smoothly and efficiently.

Vehicle fleet tracking also supplies a managed audit of occupational road risk, crucial to precisely evaluating any unexpected road incident. Telematics insurance has become an essential fleet industry instrument with the production of a key document record essential to reduce the risk of prosecution, support insurance claims and reduce annual premiums.

Installing a web based gps system enables detailed data analysis of an entire journey from point of vehicle departure to return to base. Vital information is supplied on key cost analysis items, including a driver’s hours, journey times, mileage patterns and driving profile, plus crucial driver behaviour data on speed, braking and acceleration.

Both fleet managers and vehicle drivers view the critical access to strategic duty-of-care indicators as key to evaluating how and where best they can deploy health and safety issues more effectively.

Even a high-risk driver who is known to cost more in fuel use, maintenance costs and insurance premiums, will be open to behaviour monitoring if it means improving performance, increasing productivity to protect employment and increase personal safety. Managing risk with GPS vehicle tracking installed, ultimately, aims to both drive running costs down and maintain duty of care responsibility.

http://www.cybit.co.uk are the UK's Leading Supplier of Vehicle Based Telematics Services, GPS Vehicle Tracking, Fleet Tracking, Trailer Tracking with customisable added value application modules, who deliver an extensive portfolio of advanced vehicle tracking solutions to over 2,000 enterprises across a wide-range of industries. UKAS accredited to ISO 9001:2000, Cybit's dedicated professional services team can provide guidance to legislation compliance, Human Resource Management and Duty of Care best practice.