ECA join Government’s ‘Driving for Better Business’ scheme

The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) has become one of the first trade associations in the country to back the Government’s road safety-focused ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme.

For many employees, driving on business is the most dangerous task they undertake during their working life, according to official figures.

Van drivers are one of the key focuses for the programme because of the growing number of light commercial vehicles on the road and their disproportionate involvement in road crashes.

In the last decade, the number of vans on the UK’s roads has increased by around a third and overall van traffic has increased by 40% - and with the majority of ECA member companies asking their employees to travel to jobs in vans, the organisation is acutely aware of the hazards.

Furthermore, Government figures suggest that male drivers aged 17 to 39-years-old, who drive as part of their job, have the highest incidence of being involved in a work-related road crash in a van - putting many professional electricians in the ‘high risk’ bracket.

It is estimated that between a third and a quarter of all roads traffic crashes involve someone who was at work at the time. Based on last year’s data that equates to about 1,000 deaths a year compared to 228 fatal injuries to workers on site or in other workplaces. The percentage of occupational drivers injured is also between a third and quarter of the total figure.

The ECA is the UK’s largest and leading trade association representing electrical, electronic, installation engineering and building services companies throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland - the interests of equivalent companies in Scotland are served by a similar body, SELECT.

ECA head of health, safety and environment Paul Reeve said: “We actively promote the importance of road safety to ECA members - on our website, in our newsletters and at meetings and conferences around the country.

“We are very keen to be an active player in the ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme. Driving is a significant hazard for electrical businesses and we are keen to ensure our members know how to minimise the risk to employees and to reduce costs and liabilities.”

The ‘Driving for Better Business’ programme is managed by RoadSafe on behalf of the Department for Transport, which is working with the police and a raft of other agencies to encourage companies and organisations nationwide to implement best practice occupational road risk management programmes.

A key feature of the programme is the highlighting of ‘business champions’, companies that are in the frontline of practicing and promoting corporate road safety and are being used to fly the flag and to spread the gospel of corporate road safety across business sectors.

The ECA has 2,900 member companies involved in electrical installation work ranging from local employers to national multi-service organisations. Collectively, ECA member companies have an annual turnover of more than £5 billion, employ over 30,000 operatives and support 8,000 apprentices in craft training.

ECA member Chelmsford Electrical was one of the first businesses to become a ‘business champion’ as part of the initiative.

Chelmsford Electrical company secretary Peter Locke said: “In recent years we have improved our accident record significantly to the extent that in 2007/8 we incurred just four insurance claims across our almost 50-vehicle fleet.

“Crashes are costly in terms of cash and time and, apart from the emotional trauma involved, they can have a severe impact on business efficiency. By putting in place a series of best practice initiatives we have made significant cost savings and improved business productivity.”

Mr Reeve added: “We are encouraging more ECA members companies to follow Chelmsford Electrical’s lead and become ‘business champions’ and there has already been further interest among the membership.”

‘Driving for Better Business’ programme manager Caroline Scurr added: “We are delighted that the ECA is promoting the initiative and the importance of occupational road safety to its members. Statistics show that van drivers are in the ‘high risk’ category when on the road, but, as Chelmsford Electrical has shown, those risks can be significantly reduced with the implementation of a focused safe-driving programme.”