How to avoid a disjointed Fleet Risk program?

You may also ask; Why is a joined up risk program so important? 

In the same breath you may even ask; What business risks am I running if my risk program is in fact, disjointed?

So, the simple answer is to say that a joined-up risk program gives you the best chance to protect your drivers, your brand and the public.  Additionally, your business will operate more effectively and fleet-associated costs (such a fuel and fleet insurance premiums) will be reduced. 

However, if you have risk data stored in separate clusters, in different departments, in different formats, then poor decision-making can follow, which will undoubtedly scupper any chance of capitalising on these important benefits. 

Whilst poor decision-making can be caused by a lack of risk management expertise, bad timing and inaccuracies, many bad decisions (about who constitutes the risk, why and what to do about it) very often stem from a lack of joined-up thinking between different departments such as HR, Transport and Health and Safety.

For example, in practical terms, it would be unwise to invest in driver training based purely on licence check results.  Training may be a Health & Safety issue whereas HR tends to look after licence checking.

Similarly, if you don’t use Telematics you may wish to do Online Driver Assessments before choosing individual drivers for remedial action. These two functions may also be governed by two separate departments.

In a similar vein, why don’t more fleets look at claim causation factors more closely before spending hundreds of pounds on training drivers and how many fleets actually ask drivers about why they think the incident occurred before spending money on training?  Same issue again.

Generally speaking and from our research, it seems that the Fleet department still points the way when it comes to how much and what kind of risk initiatives a fleet should invest in. 

However, both HR and Health & Safety have a major input and influence as driver performance is being monitored.  In truth, whichever department takes the lead role has the job of avoiding this costly and disjointed approach.

Of course, as a combined claims and risk reduction specialist, RVM Assist can supply and manage all risk-related functions whilst being accountable to all departments so avoiding the chance of waste time, effort or funds that could occur through a disjointed approach to fleet risk management.

Why not take a closer look at what we’re up to?

Call Diana or Angela on 0113 224 8800 or email enquiries@rvmassist.co.uk

At RVM our integrated approach allows us to help fleets to implement effective safety policies, analyse trends and identify high risk drivers. Our Driver Training program is targeted, timely and appropriate.  The result is lower accident rates, improved driver safety, and reduced costs