Employee vehicle accidents are a common part of everyday business. However, it could be argued that far more occurs than is needed. There are variables such as safety issues, driver incompetence, and poor decisions. However, even the smallest incidents must be handled the right way. From being proactive with safety to learning from mistakes, here are some ideas.
5 ideas for handling employee vehicle accidents
1. Finding legal and liability help
An employee incident can be a bad situation for everyone, including the business. It doesn’t matter who is at fault, either, as these details can be revealed later on through the legal process. What matters is that legal and liability issues are dealt with in the correct way. So finding a quality motor vehicle accident lawyer for both sides is essential. From there, your business will also benefit from having the right insurance and protections in place to avoid further penalties.
2. Ensuring proactive protection
It’s never a bad thing to be proactive with safety in the workplace. But where does this begin? From a top-down perspective, management initiatives for ensuring safety are a great start. When employees see management and executives involved in making things better, they are inspired and will follow suit. Regular education sessions that involve safety awareness, reporting incidents, and clear guidelines on what to do can help your employees and the business.
3. Employee road vehicle management methods
In the UK, there are around 2,500 RIDDOR workplace accidents involving vehicles each year. It is recommended that even the smallest injury be recorded so it can be looked at later on. This can be a major help for establishing what happened, the steps taken, and why. Internal reporting helps with workplace safety, even if the incident occurred outside the business in a car, or inside with something like a forklift, to find causes such as overwork, speed, and vehicle damage.
4. Learning from previous incidents
Don’t dismiss a critical incident. When something happens in or outside of the workplace, such as a road accident, there are always lessons to be learned. Even if your driver was not at fault, lessons can be learned about road safety awareness, as not everyone is a good driver. After something happens, it can be a good idea to remind workers of safety as a whole with an informative email, group session, and perhaps even a guest speaker for further education.
5. Supporting employees through recovery
It can be pretty traumatic when you are involved in a road accident. For a worker, the stress can be even higher because they might feel like their job is at risk. Even if it wasn’t their fault, there can also be a sense of guilt, especially if someone was seriously injured. Support from an employer can be a massive relief for an employee, and it should be given until all details are known. Firing an employee prematurely could also result in legal action against the company.
Summary
Finding legal resources and help can be a massive help when handling employee vehicle accidents. It also helps to have a standard recording, management, and resolution accident system in place. Of course, employees will also benefit from support during an investigation.
