Benefits

Employer Benefits

In Health & Safety Matters, IAM Fleet can assist employers as they are obliged to adopt the same duty of care and responsibilities for at work drivers as they have towards staff in the workplace. Negligence in driver safety that leads to an accident involving serious injury or death may result in directors being prosecuted.

There are many Financial Benefits for the employer who provides driver training. These include improved claims experience resulting from a reduction in both frequency and severity of crashes. Apart from the obvious costs which are covered by insurance, there are many other costs involved in a crash. These include loss of hours, higher depreciation of vehicles, adverse publicity for the company, higher administration costs and increased stress in the workplace.

A trained driver will have less wear and tear on his/her vehicle and will achieve a greater fuel efficiency. This is illustrated below.

Economics of Fuel Efficiency (assuming a 5% reduction in consumption)

In more extreme cases aggressive driving can increase fuel consumption by over 25% but appropriate training can address this.

Employee Benefits

Increased safety: A trained driver is less likely to be involved in a crash whether they are blameworthy or not. This benefit extends to family, friends and work colleagues who travel with them.

Reduced stress: For staff who drive on company business, an IAM course helps them to enjoy their driving more and reduce the stress of driving in a busy, threatening environment.

Improved morale: Employees who have taken an IAM training course will feel more valued as their employer has demonstrated a tangible commitment to health & safety.

More positive driving attitude: Highlighting areas of driving skills which need improving enables the trained driver to take a more positive thoughtful approach to driving techniques. This encourages behaviour which is less likely to result in receiving penalty points or prosecution.

Society and the Environment

There are about 400 road fatalities per annum in Ireland. Each fatal accident costs on average € 1.3 million. There are over 10,000 injured on our roads each year. This places a huge burden on society. As 90-95% of crashes are caused by human error, training can provide a very effective means of making our roads safer for everyone.

The courses demonstrate how a more careful standard of driving is not only safer, it also benefits the environment. Short journeys with a cold engine cause the most pollution often producing more than 60% more than a warmed up engine. We show how careful observance of speed limits can save the amount of fuel used. A smoother driving style avoiding harsh acceleration or braking can bring a significant fuel saving. Travelling at 56mph uses 25% less fuel than 70mph. Even correct use of gears can reduce Nitrogen Oxide emissions by 20%. A smoother driving style can significantly reduce wear and tear on consumables such as tyres, brakes and the engine generally. Under inflated tyres need replacement more often (itself an environmental problem) and waste fuel.