Darren Clapich, Head of Business Development at HGVC, reflects on the safety of our most important asset – our people – and how it continues to change.
Safety is paramount in logistics. Processes which prevent fork lift truck and HGV driving accidents are part of the business model, emphasised with good training.
Accidents still take place. Figures for the last 3 years from RIDDOR show 43% of forklift impacts were with a third person and 15% involved delivery drivers assisting with unloading. Safety features are now built into transport technology, from sensors on counterbalance trucks to telematics on HGVs.
Wincanton reduced harsh braking incidents by 83%, over-speeding events by 89% and RTAs by 28%, following the introduction of a new telematics system, reported last year.
Technology can’t replace competent training. At HGVC we’ve trained over 10,000 drivers and coordinated 100s of training programmes across the length and breadth of the UK, so we see first-hand how quality training helps save lives and retain staff.
Mental health is also crucial, now more than ever. In 2017 The ONS reported forklift truck drivers had a suicide rate 85% higher than the national average, with van drivers at 25% and LGV drivers at 20%.
COVID-19
Coronavirus has changed the meaning of safety in transport with many operators employing frequent hand washing, surface cleaning, barriers to separate people and back-to-back or side-to-side working. Welfare and rest room facilities for delivering drivers have also been provided – although HSE report some driver complaints about being refused the use of welfare facilities.
Proactive operators exist across the logistics media, such as deep cleans of Hermes hubs to covid-resistant copper films and door handles at the Combilift plant in Monaghan, Ireland.
Safety Next Steps
So what next? Remote working, digital technologies will play a key role in staff safety and automated systems will continue to change the way we work within facilities and on the roads.
Thanks to HGVC’s devoted team, they’re now delivering CPC courses online, offering a safer option for our future workforce.
Their online portal UX is crucial for large-scale CPC programmes, as it allows transport managers to add and monitor drivers. It’s able to track Driver Qualification Card (DQC) data and can provide course reminders and auto-course booking so DQCs don’t lapse via the dashboard which can be customised to suit each client.
Both virtual and physical workspaces represent the future of training and HGVC is keen to play its part and make it easier for drivers and clients to work and train with their systems.
McKinsey & Company has suggested coloured hot spots, contactless facial recognition authentication, improved air filtration and ventilation systems, worker proximity sensors, removing high-touch objects and automatic surface sanitisation.
The future workplace will be blended, with combined virtual/physical working environments and comprehensive safety testing. Accidents will still take place, pandemics will loom (we’ll all be ready next time) but there is plenty we can do on every level to keep staff safe.
Any business wanting to learn more about how HGVC can help with licence acquisition, driver CPC or mitigating driver risk, should visit them at www.hgvc.co.uk and speak to their enrolment team.
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