Reducing occupational road risks

In many public and private organisations, driving is one of the most hazardous activities that employees are requested to undertake.  It is estimated that road traffic collisions whilst at work are the single largest cause of occupational fatalities in the UK and company vehicle drivers are 49 per cent more likely to be involved in an accident than the ordinary driver.

There are many issues which place occupational drivers at greater risk of collisions compared to the ordinary driver ( such as long driving hours resulting in fatigue) but many organisations accept road traffic collisions as a part of their business undertaking and feel it is something they have very little control over. 

The EBRD has monitored road traffic collision rates on project investments for a number of years and has identified that many low to middle income countries have large fleets of vehicles, including public transport vehicles, which have limited arrangements in place for managing occupational road risks (ORR).

We have increased our review on project investments to confirm how occupational road risks are being managed. We assess the types of vehicles being driven, policies and procedures in place, the types of journeys carried out, driver fitness and vehicle collision rates.

We encourage the development of formal traffic and road safety managements systems that align with ISO 39001 – we are working with Tbilisi Buses to implement this in near future. And we share tools and resources with other development banks and raising awareness of these risks with other development banks and export credit agencies.

Resources and links

• ScORSA

• Fleetsafe 

• Driving for Better Business