A Good Day to Have an Accident

Sure, there’s no good day to have an accident - accidents happen.  But, some can be avoided with just a bit of work.  If they’re happening often there is something you may want to look at: What day do they most frequently happen?  At a recent lunch with a large client, he told me an interesting story.

They were going through incident reports when a sharp eye in the office noticed that most of their accidents were happening on Mondays.  Apparently, their drivers were coming in with the events of the weekend still on their minds.  This distracted driving led to more accidents on days following weekends or vacations.

A solution that is showing some promise is to ramp drivers up to working speed first thing, when they get back on the job.  About 30-minutes to an hour of focused, safety-related activity can help get distracted minds back on track and ready to hit the road. 

The time you have your drivers spend on these seemingly minor activities can more than pay for itself through reduced accidents.  Here are a couple things to experiment with, to see what works best with your crew:

1.       Companies like Avatar (www.avatarms.com) create videos and games that are safety-focused, interesting and effective.  The more interactive the task, the better, so if you want to stick with videos, you may want to include a short quiz at the end.  You can offer prizes to drivers with the highest scores.

2.       Having your drivers perform a safety check (even if your mechanics have already done so) also gets your drivers’ minds focused on their truck and their upcoming work day.

3.       Have a brainstorming session as to what the most pressing safety issues are for your driving team...then share it with DriverSheets.com.  If you give us a month’s worth of safety ideas/concerns, we’ll give you a month’s worth of customized safety sheets (one offer per company, of course)!  These Monday morning meetings can also be a great way to pick brains for how you can retain drivers.

We are always looking for new, interesting safety ideas.  If you have one, please share it with us: info@DriverSheets.com!

How Does Your Safety Program Compare to UPS?

How does your driver safety program compare to the big boys?  Sure, you probably don’t have a $350 million training budget like UPS, but what are you doing to promote a culture of safety within your company?

UPS has more than 450 employees working full-time to protect the health and safety of their employees. This is in addition to the health and safety committees as part of the Comprehensive Health and Safety Process (CHSP) described below.

UPS lists the following as their primary safety strategies.  Have you put yours into writing?

• Conducting regular, comprehensive training for employees working with vehicles, with airplanes, or in freight handling roles. 

UPS spent $118 million (about 30 percent of their training budget) on teaching more than 90 formal safety training courses in 2011. Their employees devoted approximately 3.8 million hours to safety training during the year.

• Continually increasing the safety of facilities and equipment. Many of the ideas for these improvements and upgrades come from their Comprehensive Health and Safety Process (CHSP) members.

There are more than 3,600 CHSP committees in UPS facilities worldwide. The committees are run primarily by hourly employees with management support. The CHSP committee framework is designed to allow for participation of approximately 10 percent of the workforce, who represent all UPS workers in their operations. It is ultimately up to every employee to help maintain a safe workplace.

• Stringent policies governing working hours and rest hours, rest facilities and leave for those driving and operating UPS vehicles. These policies recognize the differences between the safety requirements for delivery drivers, long-haul drivers of freight vehicles, and pilots.

UPS policies conform to laws and regulations in the countries, states and other political entities where they operate, and they are often included in their contracts with collective bargaining organizations. We regularly audit conformance to these policies and review their continued effectiveness.

• Recognizing outstanding safety performers. In 2011, UPS honored 1,235 drivers with entry into the UPS “Circle of Honor” in recognition of driving 25 years without an avoidable accident.

This group included 36 women. The Circle of Honor now includes 5,843 drivers who have achieved this remarkable record, including 115 women.

Now that you have put your safety goals in writing, what have you done to put them in action?  Adding DriverSheets.com to your safety training mix helps you provide regular, consistent training, introduce new safety concepts and improve morale – and it costs far less than $350 million!