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It is funny how your sub-conscious can have a major influence on your health, and even the decisions you make.
Let me give you just two examples.
First, both my wife and I joined a local gym this week and at the induction with the instructor, my wife's blood pressure was taken and was off the scale. The instructor said he had never seen a reading that high. My wife hates having her blood pressure taken and because of this, her worrying made it go through the roof! However after a 10-minute chat, which took her mind off it, it was taken again and was normal.
I asked how the results could be so different in just 10 minutes; his reply was "white coat syndrome".
The second example, driving back from the gym, our local authority had installed a matrix sign that shows your speed and whilst it is nice to see some money is still being spent on road safety, it was interesting to see all the drivers I witnessed were keeping to the limit, not just at the sign but for some distance after. It may be that it appears to be working because it's new or it could be linked to the 'white coat syndrome'.
I have been involved in driver training since 1988 and I have never heard of a driver having a blameworthy accident whilst receiving professional training. So if they can drive well whilst being supervised, why can't they drive well all the time?
I believe it is all to do with their mind set, because so many drivers I have spoken to have told me they have to speed to get the job done.
When I have raised this with the company, I am often told, "We don't expect any driver to break the traffic laws".
If you believe both parties, and often I do, the problem has to be that drivers are putting pressure on themselves that don't exist - again, it's the 'white coat syndrome'.
So, what can employers do if they believe their drivers are suffering from the 'white coat syndrome'?
The answer has to be to look at why the matrix sign worked. In this instance, drivers regulated their speed because (a) they were woken up to the fact they were speeding and most importantly (b) they reacted to peer pressure from other drivers.
If employers constantly reminded drivers of what the company expects from them, made it clear that they don't condone any infringement of traffic laws, and made it as culturally unacceptable as it would be to now drink alcohol or smoke in the workplace, they would see crash rates and fines fall.
But what can employers do regularly that won't break the budget?
It's not what you do, but how often you do it that is important. You don't have to put your drivers on an on road training course every month, but you do need to something such as spending 10 minutes talking to your drivers, informing them how they are doing with fuel economy and vehicle damage.
If, for example, you have had a bad month with manoeuvring crashes, give all your drivers tips on manoeuvring. There are lots available free on the internet including my company's website By doing something every month, drivers will change their mind set and start driving more carefully. This change of mind set will soon result in drivers competing with each other to be the best driver. And before long, if someone damages their vehicle, receives a speeding fine or is caught using their mobile phone it will not just be frowned upon by the fleet manager, but by the entire workforce.
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