Safety culture in European road haulage companies
Jan-Coen van Elburg, Robbert Lunsingh Scheurleer, NEA Transport Research and training (contact: [email protected]/+31703988304)
Paper background
This paper is largely based upon a study that is being carried out in 2004 on behalf of the European Commission. The general aim of the study is the assessment of how road transport companies can be better involved in the task of halving the number of road accident victims in Europe. The study is being executed by NEA in co-operation with TRL (UK), VTI (Sweden), ISIS (France) and DVR (Germany).
The background of the study is the Commission’s objective of halving the number of road accident victims in 2010, as introduced in the White Paper on European transport1. This objective has recently been restated in the European Road Safety Action Programme2. Road haulage transport plays an important role in fulfilling this objective. The general aim of the study has been broken down in three specific project objectives: 1. An analysis of the existing situation of road safety within transport companies
a. Determining criteria for good practice
b. Actual application of criteria within European road haulage companies
2. An analysis of literature and relevant experiences outside Europe (USA, Australia, New Zealand) on development of road safety at company level
3. An inventory of options for actions, leading to an ‘Action Package’ with specified strategies in the wide range between Community level and individual companies. This paper presents the results of the study including the initial conclusions. Details of the action package that result from this study will be added during the presentation at the ETC. A draft action package is subject of a stakeholders meeting with industry and authorities on September 24.
Introduction
Road transport is an important economic activity in the EU market. Moreover freight flows are increasing, particularly within new Member States. There is a tension between the short term interests of road haulage companies in a very competitive market and the ambitions for truck safety. The fundamental challenge is balance the interest of the sector against the importance of road safety. This balance is presently too much driven
1
White Paper on European transport policy for 2010 ‘time to decide’. COM (2001)370 of 12 September 2001
2 European Road Safety Programme ‘halving the number of road accident victims in the European Union by 2010: a
by competition, often at the cost of safety. This is proven by a consistent non-compliance with fundamental rules for weights, drivers hours etc and the reluctance of operators to invest in safety equipment and training. In general society can however not blame the individual operators for this. The operators respond to a demand for their services in an environment where price is decisive to attract customers.
European statistics (CARE) do not give much clue on the actual involvement of goods transport in accidents. When looking at national statistics, one could carefully conclude that trucks are involved in 6-25% of accidents in Europe. For us that is a sufficient signal to know that action is necessary. Moreover because accidents with trucks are likely to have a more substantial impact (fatalities, congestion) then others. It is not the projects ambition to obtain more precise figures, which does not exclude the necessity of such an exercise, but to propose actions that add safety to daily business. Presently the EC is conducting a study after causes of accidents that involved trucks. Also a consortium looks at possibilities to install a better version of the CARE database. More research in this area is useful because this allows for a focus/prioritization of actions that result of studies like this.
As indicated earlier we have separately taken a look at the ‘outside EU’ experience in order to check for valuable practices. The overall impression of non-European efforts to improve road safety in the haulage sector is that the focus of companies and the research efforts are rather similar to European efforts. Driver fatigue and accident analysis are dominating issues in research. Driver (re-)training, well-being programs, incentive programs and certification schemes are common measures in the haulage industry.’ During the course of the project, we have perhaps widened the scope somewhat. We found interesting material on various actions that not only influence heavy vehicle safety directly, but also the conditions under which transport companies operate and how they operate (essentially both “carrots and sticks”). Thus, there seems to be major differences (compared with Europe) in the initiatives from the government sector, like safety ratings in the US and in Australia/New Zealand substantial enforcement efforts against violators combined with a move from prescriptive regulations to performance-based standards and self-regulation (alternative compliance). In this paper we will refer to these foreign practices when appropriate.
Safety standards
A first question to be answered is to define safe practices. When taking a closer look at the available safety standards it becomes clear that most institutes involved in developing safety standards are not particularly eager to share the information they have. The reason for this is that this material has a commercial value. There is only a limited range of Europe Centric material available against low or limited cost. As far as
material is available it is in general published by governmental organizations and national associations. The material is however pretty scattered and has a domestic focus.
The review of safety criteria we undertook underlines the general focus of the road haulage industry which remains broadly on four fundamental metrics:
Metrics relating to the vehicle safety systems • fleet safety
• vehicle selection and maintenance • loading and stowage.
Metrics relating to human resource management particularly the driver • recruitment
• driver monitoring & metrics • training
• sub-contracting.
Metrics relating to the organisation
• management culture and communication • claims reporting
• legal compliance.
Metrics which are cross functional (Impacting all of the above – with no specific emphasis on one category)
• risk assessment & measuring • certification
• initiatives.
The above mentioned criteria, which have been worked out in our study into sets of ‘good practice standards’, have been used as reference in our study (for the desk research, our own questionnaires and for the analysis of the ‘outside Europe’ experience we conducted).
It was clear from the moment that these criteria were defined that there is a wide gap between the criteria and their application by road haulage companies in practice. Based on the questionnaires that have been sent out we can compare the results from the questionnaires with the abovementioned good practice standards and gain insight to what extent the abovementioned standards lead to a reduction of accidents or, and that is quite interesting as well, whether they are being applied at all. In parallel we have also analyzed, as indicated, the experience outside Europe and determined which of these metrics can be reinforced by experiences gained in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
Vehicle safety systems
Based on the research for on safety standards we can target three areas in which vehicle safety systems can be applied to improve road safety: fleet safety, vehicle selection and maintenance, and loading and stowage.
Fleet safety
An obvious first step towards improving the road safety standards in road haulage companies is to take a close look at fleet safety and more specifically at the use of vehicles. Road haulage companies are expected to take special care of their vehicles. Usually the main reason for this is not so much road safety but moreover the costs of accidents in relation to insurance premiums and the fact that trucks might have to be taken out of operation. One of the ways to assure the good operational state of the vehicles is by checking them daily, using a checklist to identify faults or defects that might have the potential to create a safety problem.
In the questionnaire this matter was addressed by looking at the practice of pre trip technical checks performed by drivers. The results from the questionnaire show that about half of the interviewed companies have no pre trip technical checks available. In those companies that were interviewed that do have checklists and which monitor the use of these checklists the incident rate is lower than in companies that do not have these checks. Although further research is necessary to establish the exact effect of these checklists and their use, it is expected that their availability and use contributes to a better road safety situation.
Vehicle selection and maintenance
In the field of vehicle selection and maintenance various topics are of importance. For example the fact that vehicle dimensions might be adjusted to highway characteristics such as width but also the weight of vehicles in relation to the strength of the road. Targeted actions (enforcement that addresses specific target groups likely not to comply) of the Transport Inspectorate in The Netherlands show that non-compliance with the rules for maximal loading are over 50% leading to unsafe situations and an annual damage to infrastructure of 40 million EURO. There is no reason to assume that this is very different in other Member States.
Another issue is the maintenance of vehicles, not in the sense of the pre trip checks mentioned above but more in the sense of preventive maintenance which requires a proactive approach towards reducing incidents. Since these additional technical overhauls are widely considered to be a sign of a safety culture within a road haulage
company (RHC) the questionnaire addressed this matter. It turned out that more then 60% of all transport companies that filled out the questionnaire perform additional technical overhauls. However the results from the questionnaire seem to suggest that companies that perform and monitor regular fleet wide technical overhauls do not show a lower incident rate. The main reasons companies perform additional overhauls is that these overhauls prevent vehicle breakdown and therefore they are commercially relevant. Regular overhauls do seem to have an influence on the occurrence of incidents.
Among the standards for safety practice in relation to vehicle selection and maintenance, on board safety equipment, road safety technology and appliances such as seat belt reminders can be gathered. Companies should be of the type of journey their trucks are undertaking and should equip these trucks with a first aid kit, snow chain or a fire extinguisher. Furthermore when buying a truck, RHC need to have insight in the available safety technology, ranging from side guards and blind spot mirrors to driver fatigue management systems. Purchasing these technologies should be encouraged. Loading and stowage
Incidents take place not only on the road but also during loading and maneuvering on the workplace, at distribution points and delivery points. Ensuring safety at these locations through providing suitable parking areas, road user separation and the provision of guidelines for loading and stowage and maneuvering at these locations is a clear indicator of a sensible safety strategy.
This assumption is supported by the questionnaire. The existence of special safety instructions with regard to potentially dangerous situations was considered to be important since many accidents occur during maneuvering at the premises and at loading and unloading points. The outcome of the questionnaire indicates that the availability of (written) instructions concerning maneuvering on the premises and at docking stations is higher for tanker then for non-tanker transport. In general it seems that companies that have mandatory maneuvering instructions and monitor the use of the instructions suffer less incident then companies that have not drafted these instructions.
In some countries such as Netherlands, Sweden and Germany a handbook has been prepared for loading of vehicle. The interesting thing is that the handbook resulted from co-operation between enforcement organizations and road haulage associations. Hence any haulier using the handbook knows in advance that once these standards are applied, there will be no problem from the enforcement perspective. Drawback so far has been that these initiatives are national: a Dutch driver that complies with the Dutch rules and crosses the border may very well get penalized in Germany as their the rules differ.
Therefore it would be worthwhile to see to what extend these kind of initiatives can be taken up at the European level.
Measures aimed at the driver and HRM
Based on the research on safety standards which can be found in chapter 3 of this report we can target three areas in which the driver and or Human resource management (HRM) can be targeted for improving road safety: driver recruitment (including sub-contracting), driver monitoring, driver training and Sub contracting.
Driver recruitment
When hiring new employees it essential to ensure that drivers are adequately capable of performing their work responsibly. A practical test of driving skills as well as a close look at education, diplomas and past employers are means to assess driver’s abilities to perform their task efficiently and safely. Furthermore the recruitment procedure should be used to make the driver aware of the importance the company attaches to safety. Furthermore it is necessary that where agency drivers/sub-contractors are used they are aware of industry codes of good practice and that they are provided with appropriate information concerning company safety standards and plans.
These issues are reflected in the hiring policies of road haulage companies. It is noteworthy that 15% of the respondents stated that safe and efficient driving skills are not crucial when selecting new drivers. This is quite remarkable since it proves that nowadays there are still companies that do not attach much value to these issues. On the other hand it turned out that more then 20% of the companies interviewed test drivers on their driving skills. The results from the questionnaire suggest that a distinct hiring policy reduces the chances of being involved in any form of an incident with 50%. Driver monitoring
Driver monitoring relates to the health and fitness of drivers but also links driver performance to incentives systems. A company should have a specific interest in the mental and physical conditions of its drivers and communicate with them on the effects of alcohol, (prescriptive) drugs, stress and other issues that can affect concentration or judgment. A company’s approach towards driver health was considered to be a relevant indicator of the road safety standards in such a company and therefore a section of the questionnaire was dedicated to this topic. About 30% of the respondents indicated they perform periodic health checks on their drivers whereas about 40% perform no health checks at all. The results from the questionnaire show that of the companies interviewed those with periodic health checks perform much better then companies that don’t have these checks.
Incentives for safe and efficient driving are obviously among the measures a company can take to influence driver behavior. To be able to measure driver’s performance records need to be kept on crash data etc. Based on these records driver behavior can be evaluated and discussed with individual drivers. A “driver of the month” system or a “top ten of least incidents” could trigger drivers to drive more efficiently and safely. Although incentive systems are widely perceived as a very useful tool to improve safety standards; the questionnaire showed that only 16% of the interviewed companies actually have an incentive system. However driver performance is discussed in about 60% of the respondent companies. The results from the questionnaire indicate that incentive systems have only a slight effect on driver safety. It is however very hard to measure.
Driver Training
The relationship between road safety standards and driver training hardly needs any explanation, since it is clear that driver trainer can do nothing but improve driving behavior and safety awareness. Well trained drivers perform better both when it comes to driving safety and reduction of fuel consumption. Fuels saving techniques adopted by drivers can also have a positive effect on road safety and reinforce some of the aspects covered in safety specific training. Not only fuel consumption is addressed by training, also more specific maneuvers are addressed in training programs, for example reversing and maneuvering on premises. Research has shown that reversing for example is a component in up till 25% of the deaths in accidents. Therefore, training can be an important measure in reducing these accidents. As was already mentioned above a special policy on maneuvering decreases the chance on incidents, part of such a policy could be training on special maneuvers. Additional driver training was therefore addressed in the questionnaire. Nearly 60% of the drivers of tanker trucks that have responded the questionnaire receive additional training and their driving behaviour is carefully monitored and discussed. Over all, 50% of the interviewed companies indicated not to offer additional driver training at all. Nevertheless, not surprisingly, additional driver training does improve the incident rate.
Organisation
Based on the research on safety standards which can be found in our study we can target three areas in which the organization influences the road safety standards in a road haulage company: management culture, claims reporting and legal compliance. Management culture
Company management is explicitly responsible for the safety performance of the company. The managers in a company have the obligation to set the right example
everyone. If safety standards are not advocated at highest level it can not be expected that the people on the workfloor or the drivers pay much attention to these same safety standards. Therefore the role of management is very important in motivating employees to be aware of safety issues. On of the ways to ensure that management is committed to safety is the presence of a safety manager in the day to day management of the road haulage company. Therefore the presence of a safety manager was one of the issue that were addressed in the questionnaire. 66% of the companies involved in tanker transport that have answered the questionnaire employ a high ranking safety manager. In nontanker transport, only 20% of the companies that answered the questionnaire indicated to have a high ranking safety manager. The results from the questionnaire furthermore suggest that companies that employ a safety manager and have an approach aimed at management by incident, meaning that incidents are taken very seriously, show much lower incident rates then companies that don’t.
Claims reporting
A company should have a specific policy in place that outlines practical procedures for dealing with accidents. This is closely related with accident registration systems that can be maintained by companies to have insight in the development of accidents that occur, linked to specific routes or drivers. The way in which the whole process of dealing with accidents is handled within a company, from accident registration to claims reporting, forms an indication of a companies’ safety culture. Therefore this matter was investigated in the questionnaire by looking at the policy towards accidents that companies have developed. Companies that do not monitor damages in detail or pay special attention to the employee involved are believed not to pay much attention on reducing these occurrences. More then 70% of the companies that took part in the questionnaire register accidents and damages in detail; about 17% percent does not monitor accidents at all. Although it is assumed that the monitoring of accidents and its subsequent claims reporting are an indication of a good safety culture, the results from the questionnaire indicate that those companies that practice these matters only have an incident rate that is 10% lower then those companies that don’t. Another reason for the disappointing effect on the incident rate of those companies that keep records could be that those companies that do keep records have much more realistic figures on accidents then companies that do not keep a good record of accidents and are therefore mainly guessing about the number of incidents.
Legal compliance
Obviously the level of compliance with the laws regarding road safety, rest and driving times, weights and dimensions, driver’s licenses is a clear indication of the road safety culture within a company. The laws and regulations drafted by national and international bodies are among others aimed at raising the road safety level on the roads. If a road haulage company pays specific attention to obeisance of these rules it can be expected
that these companies have less incidents then those companies that do not pay attention to the rules in place.
Of course compliance with the law can be enforced through road checks and company visits, therefore these items were included in the questionnaire. The number of road checks and company visits may influence the average road safety behavior of transport companies. Especially some of the more irresponsible companies might be forced into compliance through a series of consistent road and company checks. The questionnaire shows that the number of road checks performed among tanker companies is slightly higher then for the other companies that were interviewed. Of greater importance is the fact that some 30% of the respondents indicated that that they are actually never confronted with road checks.
The concept of incentive systems could also be linked to the number of traffic violations a driver commits. For example the fewer fines the more training, or more holidays or simply higher pay.
Data from Transport Inspectorates still shows the relative high proportion of non-compliance for specific rules. An average violation of 20% during standard road side checks is not unusual. Specifically drivers hours rules, ADR and loading rules are neglected. The tools that national inspectorates have at their disposal differ tremendously. New developments such as the digital tachgraph will make enforcement more effective. Much also depends on co-operation between the different enforcement bodies. In The Netherlands a system of ‘clever inforcement’ for overloading is implemented. Through specific devices that allow for weighing vehicles while driving (‘weigh in motion) the Transport Inspectorates makes binding agreements with operators in order to prevent structural overloading. Immediately the traffic police is warned about the agreements. They carry out targeted controls to check on the agreements made. It is crucial that in international co-operation fora such as Euro Controle Route these kind of experiences are disseminated for application elsewhere.
Cross Functional Issues
The ‘final’ fourth metric is cross functional meaning that it relates to all three of the above mentioned target area. In this section of the conclusion we will take a closer look at the cross functional measures that can be taken to enhance the safety standard in road haulage companies: risk management, and internal and external communication.
Risk Management
Overriding all safety issues is a formalized risk management structure that addresses all aspects of safety and identifies roles and responsibilities of all staff within a company as well as clear lines of communication to ensure the effective use of control measures. Risk management covers all of the aspects above. It links the specific risks of vehicle
use, maneuvering, technical inspections, additional overhauls but also the benefits of safety tools to the experience of the driver and the hiring of new drivers while at the same time considering the companies’ overall policy towards safety.
Risk management is reflected in a companies’ policy towards accidents, routeplanning, installing safety mangers at management level etc. All of these measures and their positive effects on the Incident rate have been described in the previous paragraphs A strong incentive to implement a risk management structure is liability. Road transport operators are part of the logistic chain. Often safety performance is strongly influenced by other parties in this chain (type of contract, packaging, time pressure). The chain or responsibility (liability) as defined in Australia, refers to the proposition that anyone who has a degree of control in a transport operation may be potentially liable for breaches of road laws by others: control = responsibility = legal liability.
Considering the differences in national law it is only a long term (theoretical) possibility that EU legislation in this area is developed. On the other hand it is very unsatisfactory that Consigners in Europe choose to contract out transport not only as a result of a business choice, but also to exclude any responsibility of what happens on the road whereas on the same time they influence this very much. In a chain of responsibilities consigners, packers, loaders, drivers, operators, receivers and employers/managers should all be accountable for their ‘part’.
Internal and external communication
Communication strategies should be used for both internal and external audiences. First of all, the companies’ safety policy needs to be communicated to the employees. It is of vital importance that employees take ownership of the road safety issue, and take responsibility in ensuring that all road users can drive accident free. This support from the drivers and other employees can be raised through employee meetings, the unions and a formalized risk management structure.
External communication focuses on the communication of the road haulage company and all possible external publics, including customers, government officials, other transporters, transport inspectorates, union officials etc. The company can communicate its commitment to safer roads through supporting voluntary initiatives such as European Road Safety Charter.
The above presented initial conclusions will lead to a set of actions that will be proposed to the European Commission. These actions will be subject of a stakeholders meeting in Brussels September 2004. This also allows for follow up presentation during ETC 2004 in October.
