Feedback from the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP) indicates the Safe Use of Mobiles in Vehicles (SUMV) policy guide is on the right track.
AFMA hosts the baseline survey which, as well as being free of charge, allows your organisation to establish its own position on the road to in-vehicle mobile safety. The policy guide was developed to assist organisations in changing their vehicle safety culture, in particular around the shunned but all-too-commonplace problem of distraction.
NRSPP manager Jerome Carslake has already heard some positive feedback about the SUMV policy guide, launched in August last year.
“They had an employee involved in a crash and the investigator found that the driver admitted he knew he should not have taken the call,” he said. “He was under stress, the road was wet and congested yet he had to take the call because it was his manager and he had a letter from him saying he was to answer a call during work hours form him whenever he called, even driving. If he didn’t, he would face disciplinary action.”
“The investigator was able to draw on the SUMV guide to inform him of good practice, how to have a conversation around the risks, what the law is and steps to move the organisation in its entirety forward.”
Whilst organisations recognise the opportunity to implement or review their use of mobile phone policy, AFMA believes the first step is to understand the existing cultures and attitudes towards using a mobile phone whilst in a vehicle. AFMA is hosting a free baseline survey for any organisation serious about safety. The survey is specific to your organisation and will capture the responder’s state and department so as to highlight any differences between departments. A formal report is provided by AFMA and it can be taken again in the future to gauge your progress.
The survey responses are anonymous and the data remains the property of your organisation. AFMA will retain a copy of the data to be anonymously aggregated with all completed surveys. This aggregated data will be used to establish benchmarks and may be used to create other meaningful statistics, noting the organisation’s name will remain confidential and undisclosed.
If you’d like to take the baseline survey and get serious about your company’s safety policy, contact AFMA on [email protected] or 03 9866 6056 and we’ll provide a Confidentiality Agreement designed to protect your information (survey responses).
Click here to access the SUMV Guide (How to develop a mobile phone policy)
