FleetSafe Workshops: A Business Solution to Workplace Road Safety
Keywords: Fleet Safety
ARSRPE
Submission Date: 2007
Abstract
The FleetSafe Workshops are an innovative and effective way of delivering tools to business to help
them develop and implement safer vehicle and driving policies. This unique and exciting concept is
the only workshop of its kind being delivered in Australia or overseas.
Road crashes are the major cause of workplace fatalities (49%) and road trauma is a significant cost to
the community. Vehicles are now defined as ?workplaces? and employers now recognise that their
duty of care must encompass vehicle safety and driving behaviour.
The FleetSafe Workshops advance State and local government road safety strategies, with vehicle
safety identified as a key objective. Overseas research shows that ?if everyone drove the safest vehicle
in its class, fatalities could be reduced by 30-40%?; these forums provide both the information and the
motivation to progress this key objective.
The FleetSafe Workshops are sustainable. They have had strong support from major road safety
partners since their inception and have attracted ongoing sponsorship. Partnerships with our partners in
road safety: Allianz Insurance, Bosch ESP, Streets Ahead Pty Ltd, Subaru Interactive, TAC,
VicPolice, VicRoads and local government, have helped deliver the first four workshops and are
integral to the success of the workshops.
Business participation, referral and networking have helped grow the program; this has gathered
further momentum with the support of the Victorian Workcover Authority, who have thrown their
support behind the program by publicising the workshops through their website and industry email
network.
The FleetSafe Workshops have SMART objectives, are multi-actioned and outcomes are easily
evaluated. To date, 100% of businesses that participated in the first three workshops have
implemented workplace procedures, 80% have introduced a fleet purchase policy, while 60% have
developed a safer driving policy. Registrants have been drawn from major businesses: metro and
country Victoria, as well as interstate. 95 businesses have attended the four workshops and a fifth is
almost fully pre-booked, demonstrating the strong business demand.
RoadSafe Inner South East Inc. (RISE) developed the workshops, which have the support of the other
four RoadSafe groups in MSE Region. Regional RoadSafe groups and local government have
expressed interest in hosting workshops, three mini regional workshops have been run, and FleetSafe
has been promoted at a national OH&S forum.