A pioneering RoSPA campaign which was the first to reveal occupational road risk as the “hidden killer” on Britain’s roads has reached its 15th anniversary.
RoSPA’s Managing Occupational Road Risk (MORR) campaign was launched with the publication of a groundbreaking discussion paper in 1996.
In the absence of official statistics, the paper estimated that up to 25 per cent of road deaths each year involved vehicles being driven in the course of work activities. This amounted to more than 875 deaths, of which more than 300 were associated with accidents involving company cars and more than 300 with accidents involving vans. The paper said that “those who cover significant mileages as part of their job in company cars and vans may be at higher risk of occupational fatality than workers in acknowledged high risk sectors such as construction or underground mining”.
Subsequent research has estimated that up to a third of road accidents involve someone who is at work. Applying this to the most recent casualty figures means that in 2009, an estimated 740 people lost their lives - more than two people a day - and a further 8,230 were seriously injured in work-related road accidents in Britain.
Roger Bibbings, RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser and author of the 1996 discussion paper, said: “RoSPA was the first organisation to try to quantify the devastating impact of at-work road accidents and our early casualty estimates have since been confirmed, and even increased, through subsequent research.
“The continuing level of suffering, and the fact we have an increasingly road-mobile workforce, means that - 15 years on - we cannot declare work-related road safety as something that has been ‘achieved’. Driving remains the most dangerous thing that most of us do for work and too many organisations are still failing to act on MORR.
“We urge businesses and organisations to make 2011 the year in which they commit to regularly reviewing and improving their road safety arrangements.
“When budgets are tight, it is understandable if safety is not at the forefront of everyone’s mind. However, if options for defending the bottom line through increasing sales and turnover are limited, cutting the avoidable losses associated with accidents becomes all the more important. Therefore, in addition to the need to safeguard people, it is also crucial that employers understand the ‘business case’ for action on road safety and know that this is actually stronger when times are tough.”
As well as raising awareness of occupational road risk, and promoting a systematic approach to its management (rather than one-off interventions), RoSPA’s early campaign aimed to secure the publication of official guidance to bring MORR within mainstream health and safety management. It also hoped to gain the support of other key players in encouraging employers to adopt a proactive approach, promoting not only the clear moral, legal and business imperatives, but also the contribution that MORR would make to meeting national road casualty reduction targets.
To get things started, RoSPA held seminars, conducted a survey and, in 1998, launched new MORR guidance. In 2001, it became part of the Work Related Road Safety Task Group, established by the Government and Health and Safety Commission, which produced a report stating that occupational road risk was “a major but still generally neglected issue”.
Key campaign developments and successes have included the establishment, in 2002, of the Occupational Road Safety Alliance, which now has more than 150 member organisations, and the first national guidance on the issue - Driving at Work - which was published by the Department for Transport and Health and Safety Executive in 2003. The guidance made it clear that the law requires employers to manage road safety as they do any other aspect of health and safety. The Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance was established in 2009.
Since then, RoSPA has continued to run regular MORR events and produce guidance for employers, including a range of free Driving for Work resources, and has established the annual MORR Awards. The safety charity has also conducted further research into the issue, most recently about young employees who drive for work. And, it has expanded the MORR services it offers to employers, including driver training, risk assessment and driver profiling, and policy reviews and consultancy.
RoSPA continues to call for more robust data on at-work road accidents and the thorough investigation of accidents so lessons can be learned and future suffering prevented.
See www.rospa.com/drivertraining/morr/ for details of RoSPA’s MORR services, plus a link to the full historical background to the MORR campaign. Employers wanting more information about RoSPA’s services are invited to email enquiries@rospa.com
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