Proactive approach is needed

Kiwis’ casual approach to health and safety will have to go from April 4 this year as companies and directors face harsh penalties for not taking the necessary steps to protect their employees from harm, says Gordon Brown, CEO of Sureplan. As mentioned elsewhere in this feature, the Health and Safety Reform Bill will become law on April 4, and with it comes harsher penalties plus improved compliance and enforcement tools for inspectors, warns this major player in the fleet risk management sector. ”Businesses and their leaders need to take a good look at what processes they have in place in managing the risk their drivers face as company vehicle drivers typically have twice the crash rate of private motor vehicle drivers, so the risks are real,” says Gordon, whose company’s clients include NZ Police, which runs a fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles. “The new laws are all about taking care of your people by having robust systems in place to help prevent incidents from happening in the first place. It’s about creating a safe driving culture,” says Brown. The introduction of PCBUS – Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking – puts greater onus on organisations that may have previously held the view that responsibility of managing health and safety issues was with the contractor or employee who uses their own vehicle for work purposes. “These businesses need to have suitable systems in place to measure and monitor driver risk, but they also need to come up with a strategy around how to influence and educate their workers to lessen the risk to themselves and other road users.” Brown says the new laws have driven an increase in inquiries from top tier managers who don’t want to be caught out by not having the right systems in place when the legislation comes in to effect. Brown says in the past some companies may have had a casual approach when working with employees around health and safety matters when it comes to vehicles, however, the review of the Health and Safety laws has compelled many businesses to acknowledge they need to be prepared. “In the fleet risk management sector companies need to develop sound strategies and systems to help manage compliance and ensure their employees are safe. The key to that is focusing on prevention and education to lessen future risk,” he says. “We find that while most businesses have good intentions around the safety of their staff, the reality is there are sometimes large gaps in the systems they have in place. There’s often limited knowledge of the potential risks involved, and the processes that can be put in place to educate staff – even simple things like identifying hazards and discussing future avoidance action plans. “With New Zealand’s company vehicle drivers and with owner drivers there is always going to be a risk when your office travels at 100 km/h; we’re in the business of reducing that risk and creating safer roads.” Brown is confident the government’s target of reducing New Zealand’s workplace injury and death toll by 25 percent by 2020 is achievable. “But it’s all dependent on businesses taking smart, preventative measures to keep their staff safe.”