Of all collisions on England’s roads, the Department of Transport state a quarter involve people on a work related activity and 95% of collisions involve driver error.
While SAS Water has a good record on accident safety, the risk is clear, so we decided to bring in driver safety expert, Adrian Hide, to support our staff.
“My business is all about risk management, we support companies to minimise the chances of breeding legionella or other nasty bacteria in their water systems,” said SAS Water MD, Lizzie Ward. “There’s, therefore, clear synergies between what we do and Adrian’s area of expertise.
“We put all our eight van drivers through Adrian’s course and we now plan to have this training as part of our staff induction programme for new starters.”
With more than 30 years experience in the driver safety sector, Adrian, of Cheadle, Staffordshire, has supported scores of companies to improve driver safety.
He said: “Some companies aren’t aware that they have a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act to mitigate risk, including risk caused by driving a vehicle. However, Lizzie runs a well-respected company with risk management at its heart and, when we spoke, there was a meeting of minds.
“We were pleased to work with SAS Water, another Staffordshire Moorlands based business, and to support their eight van drivers.”
Adrian said the Van Driving Safety Course had major benefits for companies and their staff.
“All drivers are ambassadors for a business and should see that they have a responsibility in the way they conduct themselves on the road,” added Adrian. “The drivers, of course, benefit in terms of personal safety and there’s several benefits for a company, including cost savings, as drivers learn about fuel efficient driving, less vehicle wear and tear and a reduction in vehicle damage. In turn, this may allow you to have a conversation you’re your insurance company about how much you are charged.
“The SAS Water drivers all achieved passes at an excellent level. The feedback was extremely positive, they said it helped improve confidence, helped them to drive in a more mindful way and helped them while driving outside of work as well as for the company.”
The Safer Van Driving Course has 90 minutes of content on a video platform which was developed exclusively for Adrian during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Lizzie said: “It’s easy to use and we were able to fit our learning around our water safety work. Everyone involved said there were clear benefits both for in work driving and how they read the road when out with their friends and families.
“We are committed to staff development and working with Adrian is now part of our training programme.”
