| V8 Agencies' Loss Control Experiences |
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V8 Today - "VAPPed" Tomorrow
Remember the V8? They were the agencies who, in 12 months, had 10 or more incidents (collisions plus police citations); drove more than 1.5 million miles, and had an incident rate above the statewide average; or more than $150,000 in property, liability, and workers’ compensation losses. The V8 have been working to reduce their incident rate. They have been busy analyzing data, determining training vs. policy needs, targeting problem areas, and implementing changes.
Two V8 agencies have made great strides in reducing their driving related losses. They have implemented elements of a Vehicle Accident Prevention Plan (VAPP) and seen the results. Congratulations to Oregon Lottery and the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) on a job well done.
Managers and Staff are Taking a More Active Role
DCBS is the department that oversees safety in every business in the state. It knows that there is no substitute for line manager and employee involvement in safety.
Deputy Director Debbie Lincoln acknowledged that "injury data tells us that if one of our employees is seriously hurt or killed on the job, it will probably be motor vehicle related." They took a closer look at how their policies were put into practice. According to Lincoln the department is "closely reviewing and adhering to the satisfactory driving record and training requirements". They are "providing in-house safe-driver training opportunities through interactive CD-ROM and several other training resources." In addition to the training opportunities, Lincoln said "managers and staff have taken a more active role in ensuring that we all understand the principles of defensive driving, and learn to apply those principles in our daily work."
Said Lincoln, "I’m pleased to see that under the direction of Safety Manager Terrence McCarthy, DCBS’ driving safety has improved." The department still puts miles on the road – more than 2.7 million last year. But they eliminated a quarter of their incidents.Crash costs are down 92%.
Lottery Not Taking Any Chances – On Driving, That Is.
No more chances on safe driving according to Steve Blair, Lottery’s Fleet Manager. It’s a safe bet that there’ll be no collisions when Lottery employees get behind the wheel on state business. Lottery is exempt from the state’s vehicle rules (ORS 283). But to keep their auto coverage from DAS-RMD, they had to write their own policies to assure they managed their driving risks.
In fact, Lottery developed a complete policy and program package on vehicles. It takes employees step by step through expectations for driving and vehicle use. Employees got the information through orientations and meetings. They made certain each employee received and reviewed a copy of the vehicle policy. They embarked on a "Think Safety" campaign. This message was affixed to the dash of Lottery vehicles as a reminder to operate the vehicle safely. Vehicle use and safe driving got a lot of personal attention and it paid off.
Lottery employees were on the road over 2.65 million miles last year. Their incident count and incident rate per 12,000 miles dropped 70%. Their costs decreased by 90% to just under $12,000 for the year.
Other V8 agencies have also made impressive changes. ODOT has had a fleet safety program longer than any agency. The Safety Manager Team is thoroughly reviewing and updating policy and practice – no small task for this huge organization.
University of Oregon has been through their incident data and pinpointed hot spots. Mark Maguire, Safety Manager, is now creating a report for the different departments. According to Maguire, "The managers need regular feed back on how well they are doing in order to focus their attention. This report will give them that." Under Maguire, UO has developed an outstanding training program and video on van driving, one of their most common risks. Faculty, staff, and students are all required to pass the course before they get behind the wheel.
State Office for Services to Children and Families (SCF) is piloting a special statewide project on vehicle incident analysis. Trying to determine if an accident is "preventable" or "non-preventable" tends to fix blame. Employees feel threatened and defensive. Incident analysis aims to uncover the facts, discover real causes and recover workable solutions. It looks for system failures that can be fixed, not personal fault. The incident analysis process has been in use for two years at the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department safety system. Parks Safety Manager Jim Neifert, as well as Donna Andrew-Tuthill and Loree Fogleman of DAS-RMD are teaming up with SAIFer Driver instructor Dave White, retired ODOT Safety Manager. They are developing the program and SCF Southern Region will get the first class in March. We’ll tell you all about it in the next issue.
Winter 99, Vol 13, No 2
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