When your business involves employees driving frequently – whether they are making deliveries or attending offsite meetings – you want to ensure that your employees are safely getting to their destinations. Here are some safe driving tips to help make sure your employees are safe on the job and represent your company positively, particularly when there are slippery winter road conditions.

Maintain your company vehicles

Even if your employees are fantastic drivers, if the vehicles are regularly breaking down or not maintained properly, it could lead to a dangerous situation. So, make sure that vehicles receive regular maintenance and vehicles have winter tires once the snow begins to fall. You should also make sure your workers have emergency communication tools such as radios or cell phones available, and they are in good working order – just in case an emergency happens. You should also consider keeping items like a fully-stocked first aid kit in the vehicle and blankets during the colder months.

Make sure employees are well-rested

Your employees will be representing your company while out on deliveries or meeting with customers and clients, but driving can be a stressful activity. Without the appropriate time to rest, it can often lead to extreme fatigue if your drivers haven’t taken advantage of holiday time or are consistently working overtime. This can impact their performance and how they represent your company.

Driving fatigue is very real, and driving in the winter months can be particularly stressful. If you are pushing your employees to work more and more hours, you may find that they are burning out more quickly, and this can cause serious accidents on the road.

It’s important to encourage your employees to take regular breaks while on the road and take time to eat and hydrate.

Provide Training

While driving may be a skill that your employees learned a long time ago, regular training to make sure they are up to date on legislation, company policies, and changes in your industry is important.

Regular safety training, as well as training on any specific vehicles or equipment they will be using, can go a long way towards helping everyone stay safe.  Not to mention, weather-specific training to avoid accidents in slippery conditions.

Monitoring performance on the road

Monitoring road performance can be a little tricky because you don’t want your employees to feel like they are being watched all the time, but you do want to make sure they are safe on the road when driving a company vehicle.

You may want to place GPS tracking devices on company vehicles or dash cameras (depending on what type of vehicle they drive and where they’re going). You may also want to check in with your drivers if they are on the road for long periods.

Also, consider using dash cameras and similar devices to reward good driving behaviour (not just to correct poor behaviour). It will help motivate your employees to keep safety in mind.

Contact TeksMed today

Unfortunately, sometimes despite our best efforts, accidents on the job can still happen. If your company needs assistance with its disability management plan or its return to work programs and policies, we are here to help. Contact TeksMed today to learn more.