Presenting best practice on fleet safety at NETS annual conference
On 12th October, EASST Director, Emma MacLennan, spoke at NETS Annual Strength in Numbers Fleet Safety Benchmark Conference, which took place in Charlottesville, USA.
The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) is a collaborative group of employer road safety professionals whose objective is to advance road safety for employees, their family members and members of the communities where they live and work.
This year the event gathered nearly 200 road safety professionals who came together to meet with like-minded road safety professionals, learn about the latest road safety research and gain insights into new and emerging technology.
The conference was a good example of how NETS continues to promote dialogue and collaboration between professionals across fleet safety and fleet procurement areas and helps reduce risk and save lives.
Emma’s presentation covered best practices on fleet safety in low & middle-income countries and why fleet road safety should be a global priority. She highlighted that road safety management systems work and they work everywhere. And that results can be achieved through:
- Creating partnerships
- Monitoring & Counting
- Identifying High Risk Drivers & Driver Management
- Communication
- Fleet Choices
- Forecourts and other safety issues
- Constant Review
Participants at the NETS event included a number of corporate members with a keen interest in fleet safety in low and middle income countries – for example Shell, Johnson & Johnson, DuPont and others operating in a multi-national environment. Emma’s contribution formed part of a session on vehicle standards, a great challenge in countries where the majority of trucks, buses and delivery vans are over ten years old. Newer vehicles and those with good performance in crash tests can make a huge difference in reducing road casualties. Features such as electronic stability control are a vital part of safe fleets.
To underline this, the conference concluded with a visit to the impressive facilities of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – a leading research institute highlighting the importance of vehicles and other factors in preventing road crashes and reducing death and injury. Participants viewed a crash test, and had a chance to see vehicle safety features in action.
For more on safe vehicle choices for fleets, you can see Secretary General of Global NCAP (and course instructor) David Ward’s blog ‘Making an Impact – Celebrating 20 Years of Vehicle Safety in Europe’ on our EASST Academy site.
Fleet road safety policies can work in any country, in any organisation or company. Good fleet management is the key.
That is why EASST, together with IRU Academy and Cranfield University, have developed the EASST Academy Road Safety at Work: Online Course for Managers as a resource to give managers the skills they need to put a good fleet safety management system into practice.
The course is specifically designed to address issues and challenges faced by those operating fleets in developing countries. It is flexible and simple enough that it can be followed by in-country programme managers and country officers. It’s also low cost and offers simple, practical advice that can be implemented by anyone responsible for staff or contractors that operate vehicles within their projects.
