PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to outline the company procedure for addressing the issue of driver distraction.

INTRODUCTION

Studies around the world have identified driver inattention as a leading factor in most incidents and near misses.

During a study by the USA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vehicles driven nearly 2,000,000 miles yielded 42,300 hours of data on 241 drivers. 82 (34%) drivers were involved in an incident and there were 761 near misses and 8,295 critical incidents.

The study found that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event with distracting activities such as mobile phone use and drowsiness the primary cause of driver inattention.

A recent Australian Transport Safety Bureau report indicates that 43% of drivers answer their phones, 24% make calls, 16% read text messages and 8% send text messages while driving, confirming that the use of mobile phones when driving is a major road safety problem.

Given that nearly 50% of all workplace deaths occur while driving, there is an overwhelming need to minimise distraction during driving.

The most common distraction for drivers is the use of mobile phones although fatigue causing drowsiness was also found to be a significant factor in increasing the risk of an incident or near miss by a factor of four at least.

POLICY

This policy applies to all employees who drive vehicles either leased, hired, supplied as a Tool of Trade, as part of salary packaging or through a Novated Lease, or who drive their private vehicle for work purposes. Driving for work purposes includes journeys to and from work locations.

MOBILE PHONES

Drivers are prohibited from using a hand-held mobile phone while the vehicle is in motion or stationary but not parked; it is illegal and in no circumstances should this be done.

Legal studies also show that the use of a mobile phone hands free kit only reduces the risk slightly. It is, therefore, the company’s policy that no mobile phone activity should be undertaken, either in voice or text mode, whilst driving.

It is recommended that you switch off phones and allow calls to go through to a message bank or Voicemail and collect and respond to them when the vehicle is parked. Doing this means that the efficiency of the mobile phone is not lost and your safety is not at risk. Allow extra journey time to STOP so that you can use the phone.

Employees who incur an infringement for this behaviour will face disciplinary action by the company that could result in the loss of the company supplied vehicle and/or termination of employment.

For security purposes, always take your mobile phone with you when you leave the vehicle.

FATIGUE

Driving when fatigued is dangerous and significantly increases incident risk. Supervisors should plan realistic schedules and drivers should be rested before departure, stop for appropriate rest breaks (every two hours, even if not feeling tired) and avoid driving during normal sleeping hours. If feeling tired, the driver must pull over and rest for at least 20 minutes, only continuing when it is safe to do so.

In general, any driving occurring more than 16 hours since the previous nights sleep can impair driving ability. For instance driving back from the airport after an interstate day trip can put you at risk, so alternatives such as a taxi should be considered.

OTHER DRIVER DISTRACTIONS

Driver distraction is attributed to more than mobile phone use; changing radio channels or music discs can be just as dangerous. Any action that takes the driver’s eyes or concentration off the road has the potential to cause an incident. Such actions should be avoided at all times when the vehicle is in motion.