Risk management is a vital part of fleet management and the business’ duty of care for their drivers. It helps to keep your drivers, other employees, and vehicles safe and also ensures that plans and procedures are put in place to mitigate risk if an event that could cause harm arises.
Successful risk management strategies minimise the potential impact of any physical, mental or financial injury to the driver, the company and the general public. For a business it can also help avoid costly fines and loses, ensures the fleet and their drivers meet regulatory standards, and that the company is meeting their duty of care requirements.
There are several areas that a risk management strategy should cover to prevent a business encountering risk, or to mitigate any risks that do arise, and these include:
As fleet risk management has to cover so many areas it’s unsurprising that a risk management policy needs to be extensive. Every business is unique and so every business’ risk management policy will be different
At Wessex Fleet, we will help you to tailor a fleet management policy designed for your individual fleet and the potential risks that could arise for you. For more information on our fleet management services look at this page.
Risk management covers:
Compliance
There are a number of legal rules and regulations which fleet operators must comply with.
The first way that you can mitigate risk for your business is to make sure your fleet policy is in line with all applicable legal requirements and that you have regular checks in place to ensure that the fleet remains compliant.
Driver Training
One area of concern for most businesses when looking at risk management is their drivers.
In the UK once you have passed your driving test there are currently no requirements to regularly be checked again to ensure your driving is still at a high standard, which means that depending on your age and when you passed your driving test it could be years since you have been through any kind of driver training or assessment.
As part of our fleet management service, we can offer training for the drivers in your business to improve their driving and reduce the likelihood of them being involved in an accident.
For more information on the tailored driver training Wessex Fleet can offer please take a look at our dedicated training page. We also offer driving licence checks to help you ensure that your drivers all have a valid licence.
Telematics
Another way in which fleet operators can mitigate risk is through the use of telematics, which are systems that include a vehicle tracking device installed into each of your vehicles and captures data that you can then pull reports on. This data includes location, speed of travel, idling time, harsh acceleration, harsh braking, fuel consumption, vehicle faults and much more. We can tailor the data you see and reports you can pull based on your needs.
Not only does the installation of these have an impact on the driver’s style of driving as they know they are being monitored, but telematic systems allow you to monitor and pull reports on a wide range of factors across your entire fleet.
Maintenance, Servicing and Repairs
Ensuring maintenance work and repairs are completed as promptly as possible and completing servicing in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations, helps to keep your company’s vehicles in the best possible condition. It can also reduce the risk of costly damage to the vehicle and potential injury to the driver and passengers.
Though there is a cost to maintenance and servicing vehicles, this is usually much less than the cost you will need to pay should something go wrong.
Insurance
One of the most obvious ways that your business can mitigate risk is through insurance.
You will need vehicle insurance for every car, van and other vehicle in your fleet and most operators find it best practice to have one fleet policy covering all their vehicles. Insurance helps you with the cost of any repairs needed after an accident and, depending on your policy, can also provide funds for medical or legal expenses if needed.
If you have lease vehicles then you might also want to look at GAP insurance for additional financial security in the event that one of your vehicles is stolen and unrecoverable or written off.
Fleet Management Reviews
We recommend reviewing your fleet management policy, including the risk management strategy, annually to ensure that it is still meeting your fleet requirements.
If your fleet is managed by Wessex Fleet or you utilise any of our fleet management services then we will work with you to review the policy regularly.
