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I was on a plane the other day and as usual the seatbelt sign was illuminated and the cabin crew announced that everyone must put on their seatbelt. This happens on every flight and you are probably wondering where I am going with this blog! Well what did strike me was that not a single passenger moaned when the crew checked to see that you actually had fastened your belt! After all we are all adults and surely can be trusted to fasten our seatbelts?
That got me thinking - why is it that when a company implements a road safety initiative, such as monitoring vehicle checks, checking driving licences or even online risk assessments, drivers start moaning? If we accept an airline policy of cabin crew checking to see that we have done the most basic thing, like fastening our seatbelt, why moan about a company policy designed to keep you safe on the road? Why do drivers become all defensive when their company wants to ensure they are safe, when doing the most dangerous part of their job, driving. By the way driving is far more dangerous than flying!
All this has to be something to do with the culture within a company. The mindset of the managers and staff.
So if you want your drivers to drive safely and look after their company vehicle, what do you have to do? I believe you have to start with the managers, they have the greatest influence over how a driver drives. All too often I have heard drivers say things like: "Yes I see the reasons and benefits of defensive driving. But you couldn't drive like that in this company, you would never get the job done." Or, "it's only a small dent, the company have to expect a few dents with the mileage I do".
Managers have to make safe driving the number one priority, easy to say, but difficult to do when the customer is complaining about late deliveries. The other thing is to ensure their drivers get clear and consistent messages.
Managers should not accept even the tiniest scratch on the company vehicl. If a driver knows he is going to be questioned about every little scratch/dent, he will certainly drive with more care. I remember a meeting at a company that installed vending machines, their cost of repairing vehicle damage was going through the roof. I asked the fleet manager what action he would take with the driver following vehicle damage no matter how it was caused. He said they didn't even speak to the driver because they always said it wasn't their fault. When I asked the sales director what he would say to an employee who damaged a vending machine while installing it at a customer's premises, his reply could not be published here!
So why did the staff damage company vehicles but never put as much as a scratch on the vending machines? The answer is simple: company culture.
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