This push comes from new evidence that whilst many companies admit to spending time and money on road safety strategies, there is little information as to whether or not they have been successful.
In a similar move to the new guidelines developed by the Government Equality Office, which hope to improve gender equality, the IOSH is asking employers to make the results of their road safety strategies public. Transparency, it is hoped will further encourage companies and their competitors to keep on top of the issue.
The World Health Organisation believe that there will be a sharp increase in the number of road accident related deaths and expect a rise from it being the ninth highest cause of death in 2004 to the fifth by 2030. They are hoping that this estimate should galvanise companies to do something more about the matter sooner rather than later.
A leading road safety researcher Shaun Helman said “We think that some companies are achieving results, but we want to encourage businesses across the UK to take a long, hard evaluative look at whether what they’re doing is simply ticking boxes, or actually yielding results. We need well controlled evaluation to show us what works, by how much, and why.’
The IOSH hope that by asking companies to report on their accidents more information on the subject as a whole can be collated. Once this information is available it will be easier for all involved to better understand which aspects need further improvement and if any of their existing improvement practices are proving a success.
There has been an increase in less regulated vehicles now being used in employment, namely vans, which the IOSH acknowledge to be less well regulated than HGV's for example. They have the following advice for companies and encourage a combination of methods to reduce the number of employees involved in RTAs; “the answer is to drive less, by using public transport, pairing up with another team members, or staying overnight in hotels to break up journeys,’.
Some of the most common reasons for why work-related RTAs happen are distraction, fatigue and time pressure. Often an employee will be required to meet tight deadlines or have to drive long distances in a day. Companies should look at ways to avoid putting their employees under such danger. Perhaps more importantly, however, they should check that the methods they are spending their time and money on are actually working.