Terms of Reference – Driver Risk Assessment Trial
Dear Colleagues,
As Branches will be aware Royal Mail has a legal duty to safeguard employees and to undertake risk assessments, which includes our drivers, in addition to this there is also a moral duty to them. Therefore, in supporting a Driver Risk Assessment (DRA) process, it is important to attempt to find a way of making the process work better for everyone.
Despite the current agreed DRA being used by the business since 2008, utilisation of the system is very poor and when it’s used it is generally in a reactive post-collision capacity rather than as the pro-active tool that it’s intended to be. This approach is considered to be an evolution of the existing approach, learning from the issues identified in the last 8 years, rather than a new approach.
A revised approach to Driver Risk Assessment (DRA) has been agreed as part of a new trial and will commence on Monday 7th November 2016, through to end of April 2017, and has been developed to:
Ensure that a risk assessment is carried out and maintained for every driver of a Royal Mail vehicle
Ensure that suitable measures are taken to protect all drivers assessed as being at Moderate or Substantial risk of collision
Reduce the risk levels of drivers, and therefore the levels of collisions
Reduce the operational impact of the Driver Risk Assessment process
Review with the system developer, eDriving Fleet (formerly IDS), has identified that an adequate assessment of risk can be established from just the driving licence history and collision history, and the trial will therefore exclude the driver input. Drivers risk levels will be assessed using the Adequately Controlled, Acceptable, Moderate and Substantial risk system. Moderate and substantial will both require 1-2-1’s, and Substantial will additionally require on-road training.
It is estimated that c. 4% of drivers will fall into the Moderate risk category and 1% into the Substantial Risk category (though this will depend on the individual driver’s history).
It will be a requirement of the trial that a 1-2-1 must be held with all drivers assessed as carrying a Moderate or Substantial or risk of collision, using the system to explain the nature of the risk, and that this must be recorded on the system. Drivers assessed as at Moderate risk will be assigned eLearning modules and those assessed as at Substantial level of risk will be provided with in-cab intervention via utilisation where possible of the advanced driver coach. Where these are unavailable this will be carried out by Pertemps. This will ensure the experience of the driver remains positive throughout the process
Drivers who have already received training following the most recent ‘event’ (e.g. post-collision training following an RTC), will not be asked to repeat their training.
Reporting will be introduced to ensure management compliance with the process.
The trial will run at 30 offices (list attached) where all drivers will be required to sign a licence mandate, allowing access to their DVLA licence records.
Both parties agree that all individuals have a right to privacy at work and it is accepted that there is an obligation on both parties to sustain confidence and trust in relation to all employees, and that they should act in a way to engender that type of relationship. As such, any data emanating from the agreed process will remain confidential to the individual and will not be displayed on notice boards or in league tables, nor will it form part of any performance management. It is also agreed that such measures are not to be deployed for use as a disciplinary tool or a source of information to be used in conduct cases.
The following measures will be used to assess the success, or otherwise, of the trial, and inform whether the approach should be further deployed:
The success in carrying out the assessment (% of drivers completed)
The success in applying suitable counter-measures (% of Substantial/Intolerable risk with eLearning or on-road training applied)
Monitoring of drivers risk scores (to demonstrate impact on driver risk levels)
Monitoring of collision records (to demonstrate impact on collision performance)
The level of time/expense required to complete the process
Progress of the courses, and measurement of success, will be reviewed at Road Safety Strategic Involvement meetings and at the Joint Road Safety Taskforce. Both meet regularly and include full representation from CWU.
We believe also that the necessary safeguards are included in the terms of reference for the trial, including further review and national agreement if Royal Mail wants to widen this initiative beyond the trial sites, as well as protections for our members in regards to the correct use of data, its use and individual’s privacy and non use of conduct. Any Enquiries please contact either:
Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 300.02
Email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org
Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, Email: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference number 202.11a
Yours Sincerely,
Mark Baulch Davie Robertson
CWU A/Assistant Secretary CWU Assistant Secretary
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 653/16 – Terms of Reference – Driver Risk Assessment Trial
Attachment 1: Terms of Reference Royal Mail and CWU Trial of Revised Driver Risk Assessment Process
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 