Insight Magazine Issue 17

Crash -

PEOPLE DO Vehicles Don’t

National Highways Explore

Work Related Road Risk

MENTAL HEALTH IN DRIVERS - IT’S NO LAUGHING MATTER

Comedian John Ryan explains why mental health is a must and not a nice to have

The purpose of Safer Highways is to keep health, safety and wellbeing at the forefront of the highways industry and to help drive awareness, strong leadership, effective communication and best practice across all levels in our sector.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Dear Reader, National Highways has the challenging ambition to significantly reduce casualties on our network and have the realisation that we can’t achieve this alone.

We need the help and support of all those using our roads, especially those using it for work.

I meet many excellent fleet managers working hard and effectively to make their own fleets safe but there’s another far-reaching angle to this. It’s about how businesses influence behaviours across their supply chain – Health & Safety legislation is very clear about organisations duty to manage risk well, including road risk, and is equally clear that responsibility extends to contractors.

That is why we ran our inaugural #drivingchange conference at the National Space Centre a few weeks ago and why we are delighted that Safer Highways have picked this up for this issue. The presentations from the day can be viewed at drivingchange.info

We all have a role to play.

We all have the power to influence road risk in our organisations and within our supply chains.

Manage your own fleets brilliantly but also be a demanding client. Leave your supply chain in no doubt of your expectation that they step up to the challenge and run their fleets equally brilliantly.

Mark Cartwright, Guest Editor Head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention, National Highways

Guest Editor

Mark CartwrightHead of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention, National Highways

Layout by Loulita Gill Design

Published by SO Media Group Follow us

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NEVER FORGET

RESPONSIBILITIES

Laura Thomas, barrister specializing in health and safety and transport law, says that while companies should always aim for the moral gold standard in managing risk, they must not forget their legal responsibilities either

CHASE THE MARGINAL GAINS

Olympian and sports scientist Professor Greg Whyte OBE says the most important factor in achieving great performance is human health

This time it’s personal

National Highways’ head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Mark

Cartwright explains his campaign to extend health and safety rigour to work-related driving, and asks fleets to inspire and mandate road safety in their supply chains.

We all hear about car, van and truck crashes every day. Except - vehicles don’t crash. People crash. They just happen to be in a car, van or truck at the time.

Statistically, five people will die on UK roads each day. Statistically, 50 to 60 people will be seriously injured, many with lifechanging injuries.

But they’re not statistics. That’s five families devastated, another 50-60 families struggling to adapt, to cope without a breadwinner, to care for a loved one who until recently was hale and hearty.

They’re not statistics. Every one of those people is someone’s mum, dad, son, daughter, brother or sister. They are your neighbour, your colleague or your mate. It’s simply unacceptable for so many people to die or be injured. We can do something about this. However, we cannot do it alone. I want each of us to find the enthusiasm to start driving change in our own organizations, with our own colleagues, friends and family.

National Highways interacts with many good fleets, which manage their own workrelated road risk in a robust manner. These are the fleets which willingly engage with us and other road safety organisations. We need to reach the fleets which do not manage road risk, and do not willingly engage. So my question to all the good fleets out there is: What about your supply chain, your contractors – even your customers? Can you inspire positive change in those groups?

I’m always puzzled by the number or organisations with mature, robust health and safety commitments and processes, and who manage risk within their offices, construction sites, production and storage facilities really well – but that rigour stops

I want each of us to find the enthusiasm to start driving change in our own organisations, with our own colleagues, friends and family.

on page 8)

at the gates. They don’t seem to realise that their moral and legal responsibilities extend to the road.

Health & Safety legislation is very clear. It’s clear that your duties, both at a corporate level and personal level, extend to all areas of activity and they’re equally clear that they extend to your suppliers, contractors and supply chain.

And that’s where we can really make a change.

So many vehicles are driven for work. Over half of all registered vehicles in the UK are driven for work in some capacity – approximately 20 million. If you looked at any busy piece of motorway during a normal working day, the proportion of work-related traffic would be even higher than 50% - probably more like 80%.

If vehicles are being driven for work, then we can influence choices and behaviours in exactly the same way we would in any other area of our operations. Indeed, we have a duty to manage those behaviours for the safety of employees and the public.

So, we are calling on all organisations –including ourselves at National Highways - to influence and mandate behaviours and choices through our employer/employee relationships, through our relationships with suppliers and contractors and supply chains.

We can, should, and must drive change together.

Our clarion call is clear.

• Manage your own fleets, including grey fleet, brilliantly.

• Engage with your procurement team to ensure your suppliers, contractors and supply chain are in no doubt about their responsibilities and your expectations.

• Inspire your health and safety colleagues to apply their talent, expertise and energy to road risk across your organisation including supply chain.

And we, as National Highways, the Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention team and Driving for Better Business are here to help.

Through Driving for Better Business, we have an amazing range of support materials all available completely free from our award-winning Van Driver Toolkit with ready-made toolbox talks and template policies, to the use of our Wheelright tyre monitoring tech, to our CALMDriver suicide prevention materials and much more.

This is the start of a journey, one I hope will help to deliver our ambitious goal of zero harm on the strategic road network. Commit to road safety today, and ask your suppliers to commit too. Make it a priority. Remember – vehicle collisions are not good business, but they are always personal.

www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com

Commit to road safety today, and ask your suppliers to commit too. Make it a priority. Remember –vehicle collisions are not good business, but they are always personal.

The Boundary team has extensive experience across the highways sector working with private sector, local authorities and transport authorities.

We help you communicate and engage using a variety of channels from PR to video, podcasts to exhibitions, and everything in between.

We can assist with one off projects, campaigns or become part of your team on a monthly retainer.

Get in touch for a chat if you think we can help: Helen 07896 560999 / Adrian 07866 422523 talktous@boundarymarketing.co.uk

www.boundarymarketing.co.uk

National Highways CEO Endorses National Safety Conference for the Strategic Road Network

National Highways’ Chief Executive Officer, Nick Harris, has appealed to fleets across the UK to work together with National Highways if it is to achieve its goal of zero harm on the strategic road network (SRN).

Driving is one of the most hazardous things we do in our work or personal lives,” Nick told the fleet audience at the Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network Conference in March 2023.

“We have huge teams of engineers, technologists, behaviour and safety experts to bring safety to the strategic road network. However, we cannot do it unilaterally. We need fleets to work with us.”

Although UK roads are some of the safest in the world, he says the organisation is not content to accept five fatalities and 60+ serious injuries on the roads every day.

“Behind every statistic, there is a tragedy. There is a family grieving. It is always personal. And the biggest, most important

change we can make is in driver behaviour,” Nick told delegates. “#DrivingChange to achieve zero harm is the most important thing we can do.”

The conference marked a sea change in National Highways’ identity and approach to its role. “There has been an important shift for National Highways from an engineering company which built roads, to a company which managed roads, and now as a service provider, in which our role is to ensure a safe and reliable strategic road network,” said Nick.

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ECOLOGY

ATM recognise the increasing importance of environmental and ecological considerations and offer a range of services, including: surveys, watching briefs, ecological enhancements and mitigation measures.

ATM offers both comprehensive and practical solutions for all types of soft and hard landscaping. We can support you to achieve your biodiversity net gain objectives.

FENCING

Including a bespoke design service to meet your fencing requirements. ATM has held NHSS 2A and 2C accreditations since their conception and have unrivalled experience in the sector.

VEGETATION

From site clearance and watercourse/waterbody management to arboriculture and invasive weeds, ATM offers a full range of vegetation management solutions across the UK.

ASSET SURVEYS

Dynamic, at traffic-speed highway asset surveys to measure and collect inventory and retro-reflectivity of road marking, road stud, road symbol and traffic sign assets. We can also survey photometric data output to record obsolete illuminants, as well as street lighting energy inefficiencies through our Illumetric survey.

There is often a disconnect between organisations’ on-site health and safety and their management of road risk. Despite half the vehicles registered in the UK being used for work purposes, health and safety observance often does not follow a driver and vehicle past the gates.

“Every sector has a great focus on health and safety in the UK. We think about hazards and behavioural safety in the office, in depots and on construction sites –but we do not translate that awareness and careful management to the road. Driving is just seen as something everyone does.

“However most of the traffic on the strategic road network is being used for work. Making sure that those people are fit to drive and capable of making good decisions which minimise risk to themselves and other road users is essential,” he said.

“Legal compliance alone does not deliver the levels of safety we aspire to, or that we hope fleets aspire to,” he said. “We need fleets to extend their sense of health and safety onto the roads and to use their power of procurement to influence their suppliers to do the same.”

He cites the example of an M62 closure caused by a truck jack-knifing. The vehicles’ tyres had just 1mm tread depth – yet that is legal in the UK, although it wouldn’t be in Europe.

“Many vehicles fail their MOTs because their tyres are too worn – yet where did that defect figure in the employeremployee relationship while the vehicle was being used prior to its MOT?” he asked. National Highways is incorporating technology at every level in order to further facilitate safety, including artificial intelligence- enhanced CCTV, connectivity and moves to support autonomous vehicles and intelligent networks.

However unless fleet organisations extend their approach to health and safety to the roads and disseminate this requirement through their supply chains, the death toll on UK roads will not reduce.

This is because as the conference strapline declared: “Vehicles don’t crash… people crash.” The driver - their training, attitudes and behaviours – are the crucial component in road safety. And the driver of an at-work vehicle is an employee, who can therefore be managed, trained and expected to behave in a professional and safety-conscious manner.

“We all have the power to influence others in our organisation and in those organisations we work with,” said Nick. “We can influence friends and family. We can manage our own drivers well, and include clauses requiring legal compliance and work-related road-risk management in our supplier contracts.

“Together we can drive change.”

Presentations, videos and resources from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Conference on the Strategic Road Network conference are available at drivingchange.info

We need fleets to extend their sense of health and safety onto the roads and to use their power of procurement to influence their suppliers to do the same.

Driving Change –It’s Personal

Mark Cartwright, head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention at National Highways, tells safety conference delegates why, this time, it’s personal.

Road safety statistics omit one crucial factor about collisions on the strategic road network, says Head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention at National Highways, Mark Cartwright. And that’s the fact that every statistic, every death and every casualty was a person. Every death and every life changing injury leaves a grieving family struggling to cope with a new, awful reality.

It is, Mark says, always personal. “They are not statistics. They are your brother, your sister, your aunt, your uncle, your neighbour or your mate. And we can do something to protect them.”

That is why he is exhorting fleets across the UK to incorporate road risk into their health and safety briefs, and to extend their influence in road safety vertically and horizontally through their supply chains.

(continued on page 16)

Thinking differently, making better decisions, saving lives.

“We have ambitious targets for casualty reduction on the strategic road network,” says Mark. “We have a goal of zero harm. And we all have a role to play in that.

“We cannot achieve our targets alone,” he said. “We could do what we do 100 times over and we could not make the change that is needed alone.”

He explained to delegates that this inaugural safety event, hosted by National Highways in conjunction with Driving for Better Business, was not intended to be the “standard safety conference we’ve all been to before”.

Rather, he said, it is a call to action. “This is about #DrivingChange. Let’s be clear: Vehicles don’t crash. People crash. We need to change that.

“Another word for the 20 million vehicle drivers which use the strategic road network for work – employees. And employees should be trained, managed, and protected.”

The power of procurement

Mark’s call to action for fleets is twofold:

To apply the same rigorous health and safety approach to activity on the road as organisations apply to their premises

To use their influence to persuade, encourage, inspire and mandate road risk management throughout their supply chain.

“Many of those here today run excellent truck and van fleets. But do you require the same of your supply chains? You would not use a contractor who didn’t comply with health and safety requirements on site – so why do we not expect our contractors to have robust health and safety when on the road?”

Mark says that with half a million trucks, almost five million vans, one million company cars and up to 14m grey fleet using UK roads, 50% of the total UK vehicle parc is used for work. “That’s 20 million vehicles which can be affected by our health and safety decisions. That’s half the vehicles in the UK – the scale of opportunity for positive change is huge.”

Not just a fleet issue

Mark called on all the fleet professionals present to go back to their organisations and talk to their health and safety, and procurement, counterparts. “Explore who and how they can influence employees and your supply chains. Explain to them that their duty of care under health and safety legislation extends to the road.”

Here to help

National Highways has expertise and extensive resources to help fleets improve their safety performance. Mark spoke about the Wheelwright Tyre Check system which his unit lends for free to fleets to check tyre compliance at entry and exit points.

“We checked 300 vehicles today and found 16 illegal tyres, including one case of dangerous underinflation,” said Mark. “If that’s from a room of fleet professionals, can you imagine the issues with the vehicle parc at large?”

NH also runs Project Ping in which it repurposes the data from the cameras and sensors on the SRN in order to give fleets an insight into specific driver behaviours, such as close following, ignoring the seat belt or mobile phone use.

“We take the view that if we tell fleets what we find, they can fix it, and that’s to everyone’s benefit,” says Mark. “If fleets would like to be involved with Project Ping, they can contact me. We input their registration numbers into the system and then feed the data back to them.”

Driving for Better Business also has two award-winning resource packs. One is CALM Driver, the Campaign Against Living Miserably, which addresses driver mental health.

“Did you know a male CV driver is 20% more likely to take his own life than someone his age in another demographic?” asks Mark.

Finally the Van Driver Toolkit, with 37 topics covered and a new range of toolbox talk videos is available for fleets to download and use for free.

We could do what we do 100 times over and we could not make the change that is needed alone.

Be the Change

Independent road safety campaigner

Meera Naran challenged fleet professionals to play their part in making roads safer, after she detailed her huge achievements as ‘just a mum from Leicester’.

In 2018 Meera’s eight year old son, Dev, was killed in a motorway collision when the vehicle he was in stopped ‘for unknown reasons’ and was struck from behind by an HGV.

Tragically Dev had just left a hospital where he had said goodbye to his seriously ill elder brother.

Meera told delegates at the conference for Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network that the devastation of Dev’s death left her unable to function for almost a year.

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Infrastructure Experts

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group with over 25,000 employees driving the delivery of powerful new solutions, shaping thinking, creating skylines and inspiring a new generation of talent to be the change-makers of tomorrow.

We finance, develop, build, maintain and operate the increasingly complex and critical infrastructure that supports national economies and deliver projects at the heart of local communities.

At the time she had no specific fleet or transport knowledge. However, as a trained pharmacist she did understand the systems implemented for patient safety and clinical governance, and she began to apply these to her road safety research.

Meera formulated a list of changes she believed were necessary for greater road safety, and published them. The criticism these received did not faze her; she explored her critics’ arguments, found answers, refined and reinforced her proposals.

In 2020, the Department for Transport agreed to implement 18 of Meera’s 19 policy suggestions and has approved £900m of road safety funding.

The most significant three changes she pushed through were more emergency breakdown areas, an awareness campaign for what to do in the event of breakdown (Go left!) and updates to the breakdown section of Highway Code.

She also persuaded the government to halt the roll out of smart motorways until we had five years of safety data to assess.

“It’s my son’s legacy,” she says.

Future changes

Meera is now campaigning to have the EU’s general safety regulations (GSR) applied in UK law. This includes nine separate legislative items, such as autonomous emergency

braking systems for all new cars. This technology has been applied to all new commercial vehicles since 2015. However despite much of the research being conducted by British institutions, the government did not adopt the measures following Brexit. She hopes the government will introduce these safety innovations in line with Europe in what has been called Dev’s Law.

“Collisions are enormously complex because a thousand factors combine in one horrific instant,” she said. “We need to eliminate those factors, one by one.”

“I’ll continue to both challenge and work alongside the Department for Transport to ensure even more is done, including calling for legislation to be looked at for autonomous emergency braking and further support for ongoing driver education,” she says.

“I know the changes to the Highway Code were important – but I am also aware that many people will not read it. We must do more.”

Driving Change

Meera said that her foray into road safety made her realise how much information and expertise was kept in silos. “Each collective or group of experts had enormous knowledge in their area – however, they were

disjointed in terms of bringing that knowledge together, despite having a common goal of saving lives,” she said.

“We need collaboration and cultural transformation,” she continued.

“Now is the time for a new direction. Road safety is not simply the responsibility of government or of National Highways; it belongs to us all. We can collectively make that difference and save lives.”

Meera is now a trustee of road safety charity Brake and has worked tirelessly to effect change in how we approach road safety.

“My son Dev was a dose of pure innocence, a gift of love and light,” she says, reminding delegates that every road death is a personal tragedy, an individual gone who will leave an unfathomable, incurable absence in the lives of family and friends.

“If just a mum from Leicester can get the government to support 18 policy changes and almost £1bn in funding –what could you do?” she asked.

If you’d like to know more about how you and your organisation can help to make the roads safer, see our conference presentations and resources at drivingchange.info

I know the changes to the Highway Code were important –but I am also aware that many people will not read it. We must do more.

PURPOSE

We are a trusted, forward-thinking and respected business of choice, through conscious delivery of long term social value initiatives. We are committed to:

Raising awareness of the career opportunities that exist in the highways industry, through regular school engagement

Building on existing and establishling new relationships with charities and the local community to make a difference

Always operating in a fair and ethical manner working alongside a network of likeminded supply chain partners business.development@volkerhighways.co.uk volkerhighways.co.uk

People - Planet - Purpose

Collision Investigations are Catalysts for Change

Most collision investigations go no further than questioning the driver, according to MD of Road Safety Smart and incident investigator Andrew Drewary – and this means missing vital contributor factors embedded in the organisation.

Andrew has managed the investigation and analysis of over 40,000 road collisions over the past 21 years. He says that most organisations go wrong in one of three ways: they do not investigate anything; they only investigate collisions, not near misses; and their investigation rarely goes beyond talking to the driver.

“A good manager makes a good driver,” Andrew told delegates to National Highways inaugural conference, Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network. “Road safety is about good management, not good luck!”

This means that focusing on the driver and ignoring the operational context, the managers, company policies and all the other influences on his behaviour will make an investigation a fruitless process.

“98% of investigations identify the driver as at fault, and so nothing in the organisation changes. Investigations should be a catalyst for change,” he says. “We learn more from investigating near misses because they allow us to make changes which prevent the major collisions.”

Investigations should not be looking for fault, but for solutions. “They hold the solutions to the problems your fleet organisation has,” he says. “Good investigations underpin a safety culture. They show what drivers do well. They elicit information drivers will confide in investigators. And they stress test every policy, process and part of your operation.”

Investigations should happen for every near miss and collision, he says. It does not matter:

• Whether anyone was injured

• Whether anyone has brought a claim

• Whether or not the employed driver was at fault

• Whether or not an actual collision took place.

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Real time incident reporting to keep road workers safe

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• Conduct audits and safety inspections on the go, increasing efficiency whilst saving you time

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• Promote a proactive and positive safety culture throughout your entire organisation, workforce and supply chain

The power of investigation lies in preventing future collisions, so the severity of the past incident is not a valid criterion for judging whether an investigation is necessary. Rather fleet managers can ask: What can we learn from this that can help prevent it happening again?

Questions and answers

He challenged delegates to ask some basic questions; When did they last read the Highway Code? When did their drivers last read the Highway Code?

A good investigation is all about relevant questions and straight, honest answers. Andrew says that all investigations should pose the same three key questions to the driver and to the operation.

1. Why do you think it happened?

2. Is there anything you could have done to stop it from happening?

3. If you could go back in time to 10 seconds before the impact, what would you say to the other driver to explain the way you were driving?

Nothing changes if nothing changes

If fleet operators do not gain insights into managing their road risk from their investigations, and apply those insights to making changes within their fleet, then their risk of collision will remain high.

Andrew recommends that fleets:

• Keep learning

• Keep reviewing

• Develop targeted evidence-based training programmes

• Make driving and training fun

People learn best and communicate best when they have fun, which is why gamification for training, or for facilitating an easy conversation about an otherwise difficult topic can be so useful.

National Highways are developing a guide to Incident Investigation with Andrew. Visit drivingchange.info for updates on its release.

Good investigations underpin a safety culture. They elicit information drivers will confide in investigators. And they stress test every policy, process and part of your operation.

IMPROVING LIVES BY DELIVERING

WORLD CLASS INFRASTRUCTURE SAFELY AND SUSTAINABLY

Managing the Known Unknowns in Road Risk

Drug driving

Ean Lewin, managing director of DTec International, which provides drugtesting wipes to police forces and fleets throughout the UK, warned that drug driving is now a more common problem than drink-driving.

He notes the 4,000 driver arrests made in December across 21 police forces, half of which were for drug driving offences, and half being alcohol related. “One in eight under 35s takes drugs and one in 14 employees takes drugs,” he told delegates. He said we need more research into the true consequences of drug-driving on collision statistics, as currently it is up to the coroner as to whether toxicology tests are carried out on drivers in fatal collisions. Although drug-wipe testing reacts to traces of codeine, cocaine and cannabis, over the counter medications can also be problematic – particularly those which can make drivers drowsy. Fleets need to

educate drivers about the risks of over-thecounter medications and encourage them to check compatibility with driving with a pharmacist, for both prescriptions and self medication.

Key message: “Test commercial vehicle drivers for drug usage on induction, and randomly thereafter.”

Fatigue

Marcus de Guingand, MD of Third Pillar of Health, reminded delegates that driver sleepiness is fatal and that some companies now incentivise their employees getting at least seven hours’ good quality sleep per night. Sleep can be measured with some activity or exercise monitors.

Fleet operators should also be asking whether employees have second jobs, or a long commute to and from work. He says these are essential conversations to have with workers to determine whether they are likely to be too tired to drive.

Our experts on road-risk factors shared their insights with the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety Conference, listing drink and drugs, fatigue and sleepiness, distraction and driver health as key areas for fleets to manage in order to drive down work-related road risk.

“We also need to distinguish between fatigue and sleepiness,” he says. “Sleepiness is the result of a lack of good quality sleep. Fatigue can be caused by many things, such as boredom, or repetitive activities.”

Although both are dangerous, the interventions are quite different. Sleepiness can only be cured by sleep. However, fatigue in a driver who is not sleep deprived can be helped by an active break, or social interaction, such as stopping at a café for a coffee.

Key message: “Care for drivers. When cared for, they will be at their most effective and alert.”

Distraction

Dr Leanne Savigar-Shaw, Senior Lecturer in Policing at Staffordshire University, specialises in driver distraction and mobile phone use. She warned delegates that companies must be wary of the ways organisations can encourage employees to use technology legally, as this is still a strong risk factor for collision.

“The difficulty is we focus on legality and not risk. Drivers see driving as wasted time, and are encouraged to do something else while they drive to maximise their productivity. It may only be illegal to touch the phone, but we know that using the phone in any form is dangerous, even if it is legal,” she says.

“The law is out of touch with the capabilities of technology. If it’s now possible to do your shopping while driving without touching the phone, then we need to be better regulating the uses of technology while driving.”

This starts with strict policies and sound education by employers, making mobile phone use of any kind while the vehicle is moving a zero-tolerance offence. Employers also need to ensure that workrelated communications and pressures do not encourage a dangerous use of technology while driving.

Physical restrictions alone do not suffice, as people find ways around them. For instance, disabling work phones is moot if the employee carries a personal phone. Key message: “Have a policy to prevent hands free mobile phone use while driving.”

Driver health

Dr Markhand Batt, a Senior Medical Assessor for D4Drivers, says that medical tests for commercial vehicle drivers often reveal issues such as hypertension, diabetes and sleep disorders. However, employers could help drivers to stay healthier and encourage more frequent preventive and diagnostic trips.

It is often hard for commercial vehicle drivers to schedule GP appointments, due to their working pattern. Men can also be anxious about medical checks or procrastinate because they equate illness with weakness, a loss or work or a loss of identity.

However, conditions such as diabetes, depression or sleep disorders can be treated, leaving the individual healthier and safer on the roads. Ignoring them puts the driver at increased risk of collision as well as increased risk of serious medical complications.

Fleet operators should encourage drivers to eat well, stay hydrated, exercise during the day to mitigate the effects of sitting in the cab, and to get sufficient good quality sleep.

If drivers show any signs of being unwell, tired or being anxious, worried or depressed, this should be sensitively investigated.

Key message: “Health conditions are most dangerous when undiagnosed. Diagnosis leads to treatment which makes the person healthier as an individual and safer as a driver.”

Key message: “Care for drivers. When cared for, they will be at their most effective and alert.”

Simple Actions SAVE LIVES

Bystanders can save lives.

Van and truck drivers could save lives by knowing what to do in the event of a collision, consultant nurse Rob Fenwick told delegates to National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network Conference.

One-third of trauma incidents resulting in emergency hospital treatment happen on the roads, and 22,000 people each year suffer life changing or serious injuries.

Fenwick reminded the audience that during his 20-minute talk, someone in the UK would be killed or seriously injured on the road.

However, van and truck drivers can play a crucial part in helping to save some of these lives – not only by driving safely and avoiding collisions but by knowing what action to take if they are first on the scene of a crash.

Medical entrapment

Since the 1990s received wisdom said that people involved in road traffic collisions should not be moved for fear of exacerbating any potential spinal injury. Fenwick says this has deterred first aiders and first responders from addressing immediate issues such as clearing airways, stopping bleeding or moving the person to a secure off-road location.

However, these small actions can be vital to saving lives, Fenwick told delegates. His team’s EXIT study into the injuries sustained in vehicle collisions found that of 70,000 patients only 0.7% had spinal injuries. And of those 0.7% half of them had other life threatening conditions which should take priority.

As a result the advice to avoid moving injured individuals for fear of causing spinal damage has been changed.

“You are not going to hurt someone further by moving them to safety or opening their airway,” says Fenwick.

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Simple and straightforward actions at the scene of a crash can literally be the difference between life and death, says consultant nurse Rob Fenwick.

The time to make a difference

When a collision occurs, there is a time between a 999 call being received and emergency responders reaching the site. There is also a time interval for their return trip to hospital.

However, the crucial time that hurt individuals are still at the scene of the crash can be key to survival and recovery. This is when vital life-saving actions can be taken.

Most collision victims need basic care immediately:

Check their airway – can they breathe? A blocked airway can kill in less than 4 minutes. Even the quickest ambulance response will be much longer than that.

Are they bleeding? If so, apply pressure with clean cloth, or pack the wound. Raising a bleeding limb can help to slow bleeding. Bleeds are the most common cause of post-crash death .

“Mindset is very important,” says Fenwick. “We must feel empowered to do what we can.”

If patients can get out of the vehicle, then they should be escorted out of the vehicle and moved to somewhere safe off road.

• Check the person’s legs can move

• Clear any obstruction to their exit

• Open doors fully

• Escort them to safety

One in 10 patients is physically trapped within the vehicle – these have a higher fatality rate (9%) than those who leave the vehicle (5%).

Making a 999 call

Make a 999 call from safety (ie not in the path of oncoming traffic)

Answer the operators’ questions clearly. They will need to know:

• How many vehicles are involved

• How many people are injured

• The location

• Whether anyone is trapped within the vehicle (as this will require a specific response team)

Making a great 999 call ensures that the right emergency response personnel and vehicles are despatched straight away.

Conclusion

If fleets educate those who drive for work about what can be done to help those involved in road traffic collisions, then far fewer people will die in those collisions. Fleet operators can impart basic life-saving skills, including how to make a great 999 call, and empower road users to know they can make a difference.

The crucial time that hurt individuals are still at the scene of the crash can be key to survival and recovery. This is when vital life-saving actions can be taken.

“Simple interventions made by many people will save lives,” says Fenwick.

Mental Health is No Laughing Matter Says Comedian John Ryan

“But what better place than the Space Centre,” he noted, “to remind us that we are not alone in our universe, we *are* part of something.”

Addressing the audience of the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network conference, John sandwiched the sad facts of male mental health issues between riotously funny one-liners.

“One in 5 men do not make it to 65. Looking around this room I can see some of you don’t have long to go,” he said. Men often don’t listen to health advice, and frequently do not open up about mental health issues because they do not want to feel judged or stereotyped. He warns that the micro-aggression of workplace ‘banter’ can be problematic, and increase a person’s isolation.

Fleet operators should be aware that:

• Sitting for more than six hours a day makes moderate psychological stress 90% more likely

• Those who sit for long periods are 24% more likely to develop colon cancer

• Stress is most often caused by factors we cannot control – such as other people

• Stress stops us performing well – hence 4% of lost remote controls are found in the fridge and 2% outside the house. John hit on the idea of teaching about mental health through laughter while doing stand up. “I gig in theatres to hundreds of people. They laugh, they listen, so I thought maybe I could sneak in some useful stuff cloaked in fun. I worked in community care, I have a Master’s degree in health, I am a performer. It all just seems to naturally come together.”

How to help someone with anxiety

Ask them to list:

• Five things they can see

• Four things they can touch

• Three things they can hear

• Two things they can smell

• One emotion they feel

Helping those with depression

“One in four people has depression,” says John. “Often they need pals, not pills. But if someone has depression, they cannot reach out – so you have to.”

His key message, he says, is: “Don’t ever think it can’t happen to you.”

John challenged us all to change our behaviours – something we proved we could do during the COVID pandemic.

• Don’t judge

• Don’t tolerate banter and derisory terms

• Allow people to take their time – do we really always need to be in a rush?

• Use carrots, not sticks, kindness not criticism

• Acknowledge that depression is an illness – and we would never tell someone with food poisoning to ‘cheer up’

Looking after drivers

Men, says John, typically take better care of their vehicles than of themselves. Fleet managers and operators need to ensure that they take as good care of the driver as of the vehicle – because they both need to be roadworthy for life.

Having a supportive culture, destigmatising mental health issues, being a good friend, understanding that people may have bad days, or need time to seek help – these are all crucial cultural changes.

Drivers should also be encouraged to eat well. Gut health affects brain health. The microbiome of the intestine is critically linked to the neurotransmitters and hormones which create mood and cognitive function. Simple dietary changes, such as eating more fresh fruit and veg, good hydration and ensuring good sources of probiotics help to maintain gut health.

“Health is like money – we don’t know it’s true value until it’s gone,” he says. “And if I’ve offended you – you really need help.”

Talking about mental health can be awkward,” he says. “But once you start that discussion, you feel like you are part of something. And the problem for people with mental health issues is they often feel that they are not part of anything – they are isolated.

Comedian John Ryan, chief executive of Happy To Health You, shows that laughter is not only medicine, but also an inspirational way of learning – particularly about painful issues such as poor mental health. This is a topic which has huge relevance for the fleet industry with commercial vehicle drivers 20% more likely to take their own lives than someone of the same age in a different demographic.

Don’t ever think it can’t happen to you.

Never Forget Your Legal Responsibilities

Laura Thomas, barrister specializing in health and safety and transport law, says that while companies should always aim for the moral gold standard in managing risk, they must not forget their legal responsibilities either.

Never aim for legal compliance, but for the moral and ethical gold standard when it comes to safety,” barrister and former Deputy Traffic Commissioner Laura Thomas advised delegates at National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety Conference.

She says that not only is the moral argument for safety the most important, but that at the heart of every serious incident there is a person whose choices may have been different that day had they been surrounded by a culture of care.

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Laura works for many organisations developing their health and safety strategy. She says that all operators, whether of vans or trucks, should familiarize themselves with all the road transport legislation, and pay particular attention to the undertakings of the Operator’s Licence and to the Highway Code.

“The Highway Code holds the status of guidance, but it sets out many areas that are law. And it’s what the courts look at when considering the standard of a reasonably competent driver. So essentially, the Highway Code is your Bible,” she says. “If a driver has fallen below that standard, it’d be careless driving, if they’ve fallen far below, it would be dangerous driving. So that’s why the Highway Code is so important.”

Regular checking of the Highway Code is essential because it does change and evolve.

“Reasonably practicable” asks operators to weigh the lessened risk against the time, money and effort it requires. However, she says, in practice, the safety portion of this weighs far more heavily than the money and time.

However, she has a warning for CV operators. “Historically, the HSE generally stayed clear of road-related issues. But in my view, the needle is moving. And I have seen more regulator involvement in roadrelated issues rather than it simply being handed over to the police or the DVSA.”

The other important change in health and safety is that far more emphasis is being placed on health – not least mental health. “In the past safety was shouted and health was whispered,” she says. “I think that’s changing. HSE is starting to focus very much on stress in the workplace. Fatigue is really being looked at. And there is now

“As leaders the influence you hold on the health and safety culture in your organisation is exponential. People learn from behaviours. So you need to be demonstrating exemplary behaviours when it comes to health and safety,” she says. Directors can and are held accountable for road transport failings under the Corporate Manslaughter Act. Although prosecutions have not been as numerous as expected, directors have been jailed for fatiguerelated collisions and other fatalities

“Why aim for the Gold Standard?” she asks. “Because safety is all about people. And people are complex. We bring our whole selves to work. Every aspect of our lives impacts our decision making. That’s why I advocate a people-centred health and safety and road safety culture.”

“Then there’s the Goods Vehicle Licensing of Operators 1995. The elements of the licensing act are very useful when looking at all commercial vehicles, including van fleets. The principles underpinning the operator licence regime are also applicable to smaller vehicles so it’s certainly worth knowing,” she says.

She challenged operators to read and ensure they understood their undertakings. “Many of them may surprise you,” she said.

Putting the health in H&S

Operators should also pay attention to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Not only does it lay out an employer’s responsibility to ensure the safety of employees and the public ‘so far as reasonably practicable’ but there have been recent changes both to enforcement and scope.

a new ISO standard 45003, which looks at psychological health and safety in the workplace.”

This means that operators need to pay attention to their employee’s well-being and not simply the prevention of injury. “The Health and Safety at Work Act includes health, and that includes mental health, stress and psychological safety.”

This underpins her assertion that the gold standard approach and a culture of care must be implemented. “In every incident I have ever investigated or defended, there has been a person at its centre who has had a really bad day and that affected their choices and behaviours,” she says. “Safety is about people.”

She encouraged delegates to ask employees how they are, not once, but twice in order to elicit a genuine response.

Laura’s top tips are:

• Ask why things aren’t working – and act on it. Your actions could save lives.

• Say what you will do

• Do what you say

• And have the paperwork to prove it

“Most of this is about people and behaviours. The paperwork never leads behaviours – it simply captures and reflects it,” she says.

As leaders the influence you hold on the health and safety culture in your organisation is exponential. People learn from behaviours. So you need to be demonstrating exemplary behaviours when it comes to health and safety.

Chase the Marginal Gains

Olympian and sports scientist Professor Greg Whyte OBE says the most important factor in achieving great performance is human health – and we can improve human health by making small adjustments to how we live and work. A clear plan with a focus on marginal gains will produce huge benefits.

Addressing the National Highways Commercial Vehicle Safety on the Strategic Road Network conference in March, Greg explained that this is absolutely applicable to the fleet industry.

“Formula One used to focus entirely on the car. Then a performance physiologist worked with the drivers and suddenly, a great pilot won in a mediocre car. The health of the driver is fundamental to the success of the vehicle – not the other way around,” he says.

Yet many of us live and work with suboptimal health. “Eight million people have chronic lower back pain, which not only affects their performance at work but can prevent them from turning up to work.”

Breaking it down

Improving health for an individual, let alone across an organisation, can seem “impossible, too big, too complex, too many factors,” says Greg. “But this is how we make the impossible possible.”

Fleet operators should break down their improvement plans into small manageable steps – and the more often one takes that step, the greater an impact it will have. “This is how we see marginal gains,” he says.

“Physical actions drive positive lifestyle changes. People who are more active eat better, drink less alcohol, and smoke less. The more we move the better.”

Ideally, we would walk briskly or do some other moderate intensity exercise for 30 minutes each day with strengthening exercises twice a week.

Marginal gains matter because the difference between Gold and Silver at the Olympics is 0.1 of a second. Minute improvements can be the difference between fame and obscurity – or between becoming fitter each day or less fit.

Standing up burns one calorie, and engages all the core muscles. Rocking from foot to foot while filling a vehicle with petrol burns 3.5 calories a minute, and engages more muscles, improving circulation. These are examples of marginal gains, which when repeated each day, can change the body’s trajectory over time from slouch to sleek.

The #DrivingChange Challenge

Fleet change can seem too large a project but it can be broken down into many small, sustained steps, each of which bring marginal gains.

Just as making one small step on each part of your list over time can transform health and fitness, - and taking small, sustained steps towards a safer fleet can #DriveChange.

Here’s Greg’s top tips:

1. Don’t be deterred. At the beginning, Greg says, challenges always seem overwhelmingly hard. Motivation is key – to start and to keep improving. Regularly remind people of their goals – not just where they are headed, but why.

2. Education is important. “People do not make behavioural changes without education,” says Greg. Fleets can access numerous educational resources at Driving for Better Business, including toolbox talks and videos across a wide range of subjects.

3. Believe in yourself and your team. Greg says: “Belief drives commitment. If we believe we can achieve something, we will.”

4. Don’t be swayed by the idea it’s impossible. Greg cites the many celebrities he has coached through challenges to raise £60m for Comic Relief, such as David Walliams swimming the Channel and Eddie Izzard completing 43 marathons in 51 days. “Eddie had never run before,” says Greg. “In fact, the very first step was to buy him trainers because he didn’t even own running shoes.” Eddie had just three weeks to prepare for his first marathon – and in his final marathon he achieved his fastest-ever time.

5. Respect the challenge. “Nothing comes easy. We must always respect a challenge, but we conquer it one step at a time,” he says.

“By educating and supporting drivers, we can enhance their health, improve their productivity and make them safer on the road.”

How to achieve better fitness

• Make a plan

• Create a list including:

• Physical activity

• Mindfulness and meditation

• Optimised sleep and recreation. Avoid electronics before bed, sleep somewhere cool quiet and dark

• Limit caffeine – it takes 30 minutes to affect the body and lasts for 60 minutes. Too much caffeine can cause serious toxicity.

• Have fun and socialise

• Improve your diet. Sugar is particularly problematic.

By educating and supporting drivers, we can enhance their health, improve their productivity and make them safer on the road.

Two Experienced Fleet Operators Share their Routes to Road Safety Management

A 10% cut in insurance premiums was just the start of the benefits

FM Conway saw from undertaking a thorough review of fleet safety, said IMS and Road Safety Manager Dave Conway, as he and logistics consultant John Anderson detailed their interventions and wins at the National Highways CV Safety Conference.

FM Conway accepted the challenge many years ago to see what could be done to prevent cycling deaths, which were too often caused by construction vehicles. It reviewed all its operations and actions, and set out a plan – including working through ISO 39001, a comprehensive management system for continuous improvement.

Dave Conway says that ISO 39001 does require some expertise and resource, so smaller operators may find more prescriptive standards easier to manage.

The accreditation required an all-points study of the driver, including qualification, competence and health; the vehicle, including its roadworthiness, suitability and how driver visibility could be improved; and place. Dave says that as 90% of collisions happen within one mile of the start or end of journeys, the company studied its access and exit points to improve their safety.

Routes were optimised, potential problems – such as dangerous junctions - identified and solved.

After an 18-month process, FM Conway achieved both FORS Gold and ISO 39001.

The benefits were substantial:

• £56,000 saving in insurance

• 15% reduction in repair and maintenance spend – despite a 5% cost increase for extra preventive maintenance

• Fuel efficiency rose by 3.8mpg

• A reduction in collisions despite doubling the fleet size

• Multiple awards

Dave’s key message to fleet operators is: “Keep improving. You cannot stand still.” Logistics consultant John Anderson’s advice to fleets is to prioritise and focus on the activities which will give the greatest results.

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John was formerly logistics director at Tarmac and has decades of experience. He ran a 2,000-strong fleet covering more than a million miles a week for seven years.

He broke his approach down into three components – prioritise, innovate and collaborate.

He encouraged operators to embrace technology, and to embrace the expertise third-party suppliers can offer.

“You don’t have to be an expert in everything yourself,” he says.

Anderson then broke the steps down further:

• Safe vehicle

• Safe driver

• Safe loading

• Safe journey

• Safe unloading

Each of these steps gives different opportunities for improvement, and for prioritisation, innovation and collaboration.

For instance, he says, vehicle driver assistance technologies, such as autonomous emergency braking systems and lane departure warnings “can be a really good investment”.

Anderson used Michelin Connected Fleet, which combines vehicle monitoring with Masternaut telematics and productivity analysis.

Anderson urges operators to use telematics to its full, especially its insights into driver behaviour, such as harsh acceleration, harsh braking and skidding. “Telematics is far more powerful than just showing where they are and where they are going,” he says.

By using trusted partners, such as a comprehensive tyre management supplier, compliance check companies or resource providers, such as Driving for Better Business, fleets can achieve more with less time.

“You can deliver through others,” he says, with greater efficiency than if you try to do it all in-house. And, as Dave Conway said of his company’s preventive maintenance company, sometimes paying more to do it correctly actually reduces overall cost.

“When you review the person, the asset, the location, and the behaviour, you start to get a comprehensive picture, allowing you to identify and resolve your risk,” Anderson says. “Manage your people, monitor performance, know your trends, and ensure you have a full risk profile. Then you can predict and prevent collision.”

When you review the person, the asset, the location, and the behaviour, you start to get a comprehensive picture, allowing you to identify and resolve your risk.

By empowering our teams to think differently, equipping them with the time, skills, and encouragement to explore ideas and challenge the status quo, we create a catalyst for innovations that support our customers’ and our ambitions.

We believe in connecting people, places and communities through innovative and responsible infrastructure.

We recognise that companies don’t innovate;

...their people do.

Introducing Rising Stars

Taking place at Hotel Football, Manchester on 28th September 2023, the event will serve as the launch pad for the whole Rising Stars programme where, for the first time we hear from leading partners in the programme around our ambitions and goals.

Following the unprecedented times where young people were denied the opportunity to sample industries through work experience, engagement within education establishments was lost due to covid and those entering our sector faced a massive disconnect at a time when we should have been welcoming them into our organisations, we are proud to announce a groundbreaking programme designed to inspire and empower the next generation to view our industry as a career of choice and not one of last resort.

Our Vision

Inspire

Engaging with the leaders of tomorrow and empowering them to make our sector a career of choice.

Empower

Creating social impact is more than a 'nice thing to do.'

Recognise

Celebrating the vast talent pool of emerging leaders in our sector the Rising Stars award break the mould.

Through this series of targeted initiatives we will drive greater engagement and better understanding of the diverse opportunities our sector offers to those who are making decisions about future career aspirations as well as recognising the next generation of leaders we already have in order that we retain them and create an environment where they may thrive.