This World Wellbeing Week, it’s time to stop pretending we’re doing enough when it comes to road safety. We’re simply not – not as individuals, not as employers, not as a society.
Here’s why road safety is the missing piece in the wellbeing puzzle.
UK road deaths are on the rise
Road deaths in the UK are rising again. The latest figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed that road deaths increased in the UK last year. The rise illustrates a painful, frustrating truth – and one that flies in the face of what should be a growing, collective effort to make our roads safer and our drivers healthier.
Why safe driving is also a wellbeing issue
It’s very important to note here that a third of driving deaths are caused by drivers undertaking journeys for work.[1] After all, professionally, we’re talking about workplace wellbeing more than ever. But road safety remains a glaring omission. And yet unquestionably, driving is one of the most dangerous work-related activities. That said, in the world of workplace wellbeing, it’s hiding in plain sight.
Here’s the hard reality. If your business relies on drivers, whether that’s logistics, sales, service or deliveries, then your company is part of the road safety ecosystem. And your company must also be part of the solution. It’s not enough to have a ‘driver safety policy’ buried in the HR handbook. Employers must treat driver wellbeing as a core business risk — and a core moral obligation.
Mental fatigue, stress, lack of proper training, unrealistic schedules, and outdated safety policies all contribute to the problem. When wellbeing fails, safety follows. The stakes? Lives.
How employers can better support driver wellbeing and safety
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be like this! Here are three ways employers can start making a difference immediately to driver wellbeing at work.
Make training human-focused
Look after your drivers by providing high-quality, real-world driver training that addresses stress, distraction, fatigue and risky habits – not just rules of the road. What attitudes do drivers have to risk? How will they respond to disruption? And how do their confidence levels impact on handling different scenarios? Employers can address these issues by securing bespoke driver training to drill down into potential issues.
Personalities and experience will also impact on driver stress levels. Training can play a really important role in helping drivers to understand how their emotions influence their behaviour, the actions they can take to manage stressful situations and how their attitude to risk impacts how they handle safety – especially if time is a factor.
Champion wellbeing behind the wheel
Timely breaks, healthy food and hydration all influence driver wellbeing. Employers should already be scheduling journeys to take these factors into account, but these need to be flexible to take account of potential disruptions to journeys that can be driven by external factors, such as incidents, weather conditions, roadworks, vehicle faults and seasonality. Recognise too that a stressed, tired driver is a dangerous one – and don’t let it get to that point.
Measure what matters
Look at your driver behaviour data. Track near-misses, support driver feedback, and regularly review your road risk strategies. This is a leadership issue. Your board should know your fleet risk profile just like they know financial KPIs.
The elephant in the room
Taking the above into account, one thing is clear: we can’t talk about wellbeing without talking about road safety too. And we can’t talk about safety without acknowledging the rising toll on our roads. World Wellbeing Week should be a wake-up call for every business with drivers on the payroll. Running a fleet, whatever the size, brings responsibility.
By incorporating thoughtful wellbeing strategies into workplace cultures, businesses can create safer, happier, and more resilient teams, both on and off the road.
[1] https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/articles/landmark-study-reveals-driving-for-work-death-toll/
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