UUOS joins Driving for Better Business campaign
The UK’s largest utility company has saved thousands of pounds after slashing its accident frequency by a third as a consequence of boosting its occupational road risk management strategy with the introduction of a health and safety roadmap.
As a result, Pontypool-based United Utilities Operational Services (UUOS), which is a division of United Utilities the UK’s largest listed water company, has become the latest ‘business champion’ recruit to the Government-backed ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, which is delivered by RoadSafe.
UUOS is the campaign’s 36th ‘business champion’ drawn from across the public, private and voluntary sectors with the aim of promoting the financial, legal and moral reasons for organisations to invest in at-work driving safety.
With an estimated up to 200 road deaths and serious injuries a week resulting from crashes involving at work drivers, and more employees killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads while driving on behalf of their employer than in any other work-related activity, the campaign aims to cut the carnage.
UUOS and its main customers - United Utilities Operations Limited (Northern Gas Networks) and Welsh Water - operate a fleet of 1,700 vehicles including 1,250 vans, almost 400 company cars and 60 light goods vehicles. Additionally, approximately 1,800 employees drive their own cars on work-related journeys.
While at-work driver safety has been a feature of UUOS’s health and safety policy and procedures for many years, the launch of the roadmap has refocused both the business and drivers at an individual level on how road crashes and personal heartache can be avoided and costs saved.
Head of transport Gary Banister, who has championed the road safety strategy, said: “UUOS is committed to the principle that road traffic accidents are not an acceptable fact of life but serious, costly and often avoidable events.
“We will take all reasonable steps to ensure as far as reasonably practicable that employees driving at work do so in a manner that reduces the risk to themselves, other employees or any other person who could be affected. That is why we are delighted to join the ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign as it fits with the company’s culture.”
UUOS self-insures, which makes it even more important that there is a frontline operational focus on cost management.
Mr Banister said: “Therefore, prevention needs to be the approach of the business to all transport accidents. Our road risk strategy plays a leading part in this approach as it has the potential to continue a downward trend of incidents and associated costs.”
Last year UUOS has seen its incident frequency cut by about a third from 55% to 34% compared with 2008 levels. As a result, UUOS has seen average vehicle repair costs tumble from £1,136 in 2008 to £780 in 2009 due to both a decline in the number and severity of incidents.
Mr Banister, who was named Van Fleet Manager of the Year in the 2009 awards from industry publication Fleet Van, said: “Not only has UUOS recorded a significant reduction in the number of accidents and claim costs, but all other associated costs such as third party claims, uninsured loss recovery and sickness pay for staff have reduced as a result of improved driving behaviour and management.”
Crucially, the benefits of implementing a comprehensive road risk strategy is also contributing to UUOS further raising its status in the eyes of stakeholders both within the business and outside.
Mr Banister said: “Being a high profile business working with both City and public stakeholders it is important that we take our responsibilities seriously. It is quite clear that sustainability of the at-work driving risk management strategy can add value to the position of the business both in the eyes of our utility peers and our partners within the road transport and fleet sectors.”
A central feature of the health and safety roadmap is that individual drivers are encouraged to personally risk assess themselves and the journeys they make and not just rely on their employer and line managers to undertake risk assessments.
The safety strategy has three main strands:
To provide UUOS with best practice information and advice
Provide a road risk register of employees and an associated improvement plan
Develop a real time approach to driver licence management
Collectively those strands embrace: the identification of risks around vehicles, drivers and journeys; improving driver behaviour and competence; vehicle checks and driving licence checks.
UUOS as part of its best practice policy bans encourages employees not to use a mobile phone whilst driving; has banned smoking in vehicles; and issues a wide range of advice to drivers in relation to the dangers of speeding, not driving whilst tired, drink and drug driving and topical information such as driving carefully in winter conditions.
In 2009/10 UUOS is aiming for 100% online checking of driver licence status and for all drivers to have been risk assessed.
Compliance checks are measured through the business’s ‘dashboard KPI’ initiative that gives a flash report of non behavioural and behavioural activity to all stakeholders. The flash report is backed by detailed data set that allows analysis to be undertaken and, as a result, a programme of continuous improvement can take place.
The KPIs set benchmarks and measure vehicle repair and maintenance, fuel management, accident management and tyre management. Additionally UUOS benchmarks its safety performance against other organisations and against customer satisfaction.
Looking forward Mr Banister said: “A process of continuous improvement is being followed and standing still is not an option for the business as we continue to look to limit our exposure to health and safety risks. We are currently working to create a driver awareness roadshow that will be taken across the organisation.”
United Utilities owns, operates and maintains utility assets, including water, wastewater, electricity and gas. A FTSE 100 company with an annual turnover of £2 billion, United Utilities is the UK’s market leader in utility outsourcing. UK clients also include Southern Water, Scottish Water and Electricity North West.
Caroline Scurr, co-director of the ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, said: “Cutting costs is the number one priority facing all organisations and introducing a comprehensive occupational road risk management strategy is one of the most effective money-saving measures as UUOS can prove.
“But, crucially the company has recognised that by pro-actively managing the risks associated with at-work driving and introducing a programme of continuous improvement it is boosting staff welfare, its own image and business efficiency.”