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SUPA-SAFE
A time bomb is ticking away in UK boardrooms over the issue of corporate manslaughter. The Government has made it clear that it wants a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 2010. Up to a third of these are believed to be fleet drivers, in spite of the fact that they make up only one-tenth of all drivers.
There are rumours that the Government intends to get new corporate manslaughter legislation on the statute book before the next election. More certain is an expected ban on the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving and the introduction of the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2003, which provide specific guidance on how long drivers should spend behind the wheel.
A test case on existing legislation is also likely. This would set a precedent, bringing the company car into the courtroom and leading to a rash of fines and even jail sentences for board directors responsible for fleet safety. It has even been reported that the HSE, Police and Crown Prosecution Service are now monitoring accidents for a suitable test case to set the ball rolling.
A recent Court of Appeal decision provides a wake-up call in this respect as it involves harsher sentences for drivers involved in fatal accidents if there are aggravating factors such as a mobile phone, aggression, driving while distracted or tired, or a poorly-maintained vehicle.
The Health and Safety Executive are also currently preparing a six-step safety action plan. This covers a full assessment of hazards, from the company to the driver, the vehicle to the journey, deciding who is at risk of being harmed, evaluating the risks employers and drivers face and what needs to be done to tackle them.
While employers can use the benchmarks to improve safety, officials can also use the guidelines to see where employers are failing in their duty of care to drivers, which could lead to senior managers and companies being prosecuted if employees are involved in fatal accidents.
The guidelines were a key recommendation of the Government’s Work-related Road Safety Task Group, which produced an in-depth report in 2001. Draft recommendations from the Group called for the extension of health and safety laws to cover company car drivers.
Such evidence as exists suggests that the fleet industry is only just beginning to take this issue seriously, perhaps because it sees it as an unwanted expense. Richard Dykes, chairman of the Road Safety Task Group, answered this reluctance recently with the terse statement: “If anyone thinks taking safety issues seriously is expensive, let them try accidents.” And he did not mean merely the human and financial cost, which is astronomical, but taking the corporate killing issue into the boardroom, with all that implies for directors personally and the reputation of their companies.
It seems clear that fleet decision-makers need to make company vehicles as safe as the workplace, of which Government now clearly considers them an extension. Naturally, safety checks on all vehicles used for company business need to be strict and rigorous – demonstrably so.
But one area that too few fleet decision-makers have so far considered is that of glazing. In the event of an accident, the risk of death or serious injury from shattered side windows is one of the most frightening.
One solution fleet decision-makers should consider is installing a polyester-based laminate such as my own company’s SupaGlass product.
SupaGlass was originally developed for its security benefits – it can keep out an opportunistic thief for up to 90 seconds – but it also has major safety benefits.
SupaGlass is a super-strong and yet crystal-clear polyester membrane that is heat-sealed to the interior or a vehicle’s windows. It is the only product of its kind that has been awarded the highest security listing by the auditors at Thatcham. It has already been installed on a number of Cabinet and Home Office carts, on Northern Ireland’s Fire Engines, police cars, and the vehicles of many celebrities and VIPs. But it could now truly come into its own in the fleet industry as at least a partial solution to the corporate manslaughter issue.
This is because, as SupaGlass is bonded to the inside of a vehicle’s windows, both driver and passengers are protected from flying glass in the event of an accident. At the same time, it enables a relatively easy escape from the vehicle following an accident as it can be pushed out without any risk from the glass on the other side.
SupaGlass’s safety benefits led Pentagon to win the Institute of Transport Management’s Vehicle Safety Company of the Year Award in 2001, when the Institute made much of the fact that it would prove “a wise investment for any fleet manager.” The corporate manslaughter issue makes it even more so today.
For more information on SupaGlass, call Pentagon on
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