Summer is over and the kids are back in school. Instead of feeling sad for all the things we didn’t get a chance to do over the summer, let’s focus on safety in the upcoming months.
With weather conditions expected to bring more overcast skies and wet roads, it’s important to adapt to conditions. Checking your brakes, headlights and tires is important, but that is not the only thing you should do.
I’m talking about improving vehicle safety through engineering controls. Drivers commonly upgrade to winter tires in the coming months. This drastically improves safety, however, it does require a financial investment, which varies depending on the size of your fleet.
Here is an Auto Express video highlighting the difference between summer and winter tires. You will be surprised to learn of the benefit, not only in snow, but also wet conditions.
Upgrades to equipment should always be the first option because they are the most effective. However, there is still more that can be done. Training staff on how to safely operate a vehicle in poor conditions is a very important step. Experienced drivers are ideal and should be consulted with, and asked to train new drivers.
Once drivers are adequately trained, it’s important to keep them all aware of hazards. Awareness should focus on key points covered in training (e.g. hazards, safe driving practices, reporting near misses, etc.). Make awareness interesting and drivers will certainly remember.
Finally, when equipment and drivers are prepared, check actual road conditions before they leave. This will help avoid challenging road conditions and lengthy delays. Useful information can be found on the DriveBC website.
Every employer should be committed to provide continual improvement. Contact SafetyDriven – Trucking Safety Council of BC for information on how we can help you with this.
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