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FLEET MANAGEMENT
“ They have this saying , ‘ The front of the train has to outrun the back ’, which they can literally only feel through the seat of their pants ,” as the front car tugs on the cars behind . “ We ’ ve done the same to truck and car drivers who now have cushioned , comfy seats – we ’ re taking that inner intelligence away from our drivers . It ’ s about adapting ourselves to function better in society , it ’ s about getting the balance right between the technology and humans .”
“ We need to re-engage our central intelligence ; it ’ s the reason colouring books and yoga are popular at a corporate level , because it causes you to start focusing on your senses – using your hands , your nose , your eyes .”
But like last year , it was the last word of a lawyer , Steve Bell at the very last plenary , who said it perhaps with the strongest sense of urgency that fleet management acts on all these ( and many other learnings ) from the Conference .
“ This is about using whatever resources are at your disposal to ask what you can do better ,” he said . “ Any authority will say you need to do whatever you can to minimise harm by improving workplace health and safety . You are safety leaders , whether you believe it or not .”
Being called to the accident of one client , Bell described an electrician being killed and found that he wasn ’ t even qualified to be one , let alone work on the high-voltage system that killed him .
“ This is the core aspect that Ross Clayton ( WorkSafe Victoria senior investigator ) works on . The obligations that employees are responsible to do their work as safely as possible .
“ What is legal compliance ?” he asked , keen to get his remaining fully-engaged Conference audience to take home the right message . “ The practical process of actively going through your processes and assessing how the fleet is being used , implementing proper controls to reduce that risk as low as possible . Whether it ’ s whizzing around in a warehouse or out on the road , we need to be passing on the right information , collecting it and fulfilling that obligation – regardless of whether you are aware of the information or not . You need to be aware .
“ Data is the first port of call for any industry … no matter how big or small , to find out what happened . Data isn ’ t to be feared , it ’ s to support the good work you do in fleet . It ’ s the objective truth about what happens and it can be used to make sure an incident doesn ’ t occur .”
GOVLINK » ISSUE 2 2017