Road traffic accidents were once part of his daily routine, but now the former head of strategic road policing for North Yorkshire Police is helping CE Electric keep its drivers safe from harm.

Chris Charlton was in the force for nearly 32 years, 24 of which were spent policing his county’s roads before he retired in May 2008 having achieved the rank of Inspector.

But he wasn’t keen to simply put his feet up as he realised his experience could prove invaluable in reducing the occupational road risk of fleets.

“Accident prevention is very much based on education, enforcement and engineering, so to add a fourth theme in terms of employment is another string to the bow and an interesting dimension,” he says.

The ability to make good use of his skills – developed over many years in terms of trying to reduce vehicle accidents – in a different field was one he could not resist.

“Road safety, accident reduction and accident investigation were very much part of my life for many, many years,” he says.

“It was nice to be able to use those skills in an environment where we weren’t routinely dealing with serious injuries or even worse.”

Charlton joined CE Electric as its road risk manager a year ago and immediately became responsible for developing a road risk strategy to help protect around 2,500 drivers, who were covering 13 million miles each year.

CE had already recognised the need to undertake a road risk strategy and Charlton was employed to continue driving it forward.

“Road risk had not featured as highly as it should have done for a number of years and I think that’s fairly typical of many companies,” explains Charlton.

“However, recent legislation has brought this sharply into focus, with the Corporate Manslaughter Act a major factor. But there has also been the recognition that driving is part of the working day for a lot of people and as such deserved a greater emphasis.”

Charlton is responsible for implementing a two-phase multi-faceted programme, with phase one aimed at the company’s 120 highest risk drivers – those with points on their driving licence and those involved in blameworthy accidents.

Phase two will target the remaining 2,400 drivers, including occasional users.

Both phases, which build on established safe driving practices, start with drivers completing an online risk assessment, while high-risk drivers also undergo in-vehicle risk assessments.

But Charlton stresses good communication is key to his success, which means meeting drivers face-to-face.

“I think it’s hugely important I’m recognisable among the driving staff and that I engage with them, as well as explaining any issues and what I am doing and why,” he says.

“People have been very receptive and I think that’s down to building a rapport with them

"Everybody develops bad driving habits and if that’s explained in an appropriate manner then people will accept it.

“It’s about trying to portray a positive image and that the company is taking road risk seriously, but it’s also important to explain things in a way people understand to achieve their buy-in.”

Looking back over his policing career, Charlton recognises that commercial drivers were involved in a high proportion of accidents as a result of firms putting them under enormous pressures to meet unrealistic delivery schedules.

“The expectations of the company were far exceeding the abilities of the driver and sometimes the vehicle, resulting in higher risks, and when those risks are too high then there are going to be accidents and people are going to die,” he explains.

“But that’s not withstanding that there will be individuals who put themselves under pressure as well.”

In the past few years CE Electric has recorded a reduction in ‘preventable vehicle accidents’ from 180 in 2001 to 41 in 2009. The vast majority of incidents recorded fall into either low-speed manoeuvring or insufficient stopping distance categories.

“These can be down to lack of concentration or being distracted, but there are also issues about understanding how big your vehicle is and where the blind spots are,” says Charlton.

Drivers now use a vehicle template – an A4 sheet of paper with a blueprint of the vehicle – and along with a colleague will look at where the blindspots are.

“We have also bought a reaction tester, which simulates the brake lights of the vehicles in front and is linked to the brake pedal,” he says.

“When the brake lights of the vehicle in front come on the computer registers reaction times and works out stopping distances. It brings to life what the two-second rule really does mean.”

CE Electric calculates that low level incidents resulting from low speed manoeuvring and reversing results in bent metal costs of between £700 and £800.

In addition, it estimates ‘hidden’ costs such as lost production, missed deadlines and targets, investigation, additional administration, vehicle hire and damage to goods as between £3,000 and £24,000 per incident.

As a result, adds Charlton: “The financial benefits to be realised from a reduction in road traffic accidents is recognised and utilised to reinforce delivery of key programme initiatives and messages.”

CE Electric is the parent company of Northern Electric Distribution and Yorkshire Electricity Distribution, which deliver electricity to customers in the north-east of England, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Driving for Better Business

CE Electric is one of the latest organisations to join the Driving for Better Business campaign as a ‘business champion’.

Now numbering almost 40 public and private sector organisations, the Government-backed campaign delivered by RoadSafe uses business champions to promote the financial, legal and moral reasons for organisations across the public and private sectors to invest in at-work driving safely.

Michael Parish, Driving for Better Business campaign co-ordinator, says: “The decision of CE Electric to appoint a former police inspector to the post of road risk manager gives the business a rare first-hand insight into the importance of compliance with safe at-work driving best practice.

“The company has already made impressive strides in raising employee awareness of the risks associated with driving on business.

“Many of the measures it has introduced should be adopted by like-minded organisations.”

Practical steps to increasing awareness and reducing risk

An important first step for Chris Charlton was compiling a revised edition of CE Electric’s Safe Driving Handbook, which has been delivered to every employee, together with a copy of the Highway Code.

Further improvements have been achieved through a series of presentations and practical workshops designed to increase awareness of vehicle blindspots, manoeuvring skills, driver reaction to hazards, concentration skills and driver distractions supplemented, where necessary, by driver intensive on road training.

As part of the initiative, CE Electric is also:

  • Reviewing its existing road risk policy following a comprehensive audit of its existing road risk plan.
  • Rolling out speed limiters to its van fleet.
  • Holding a series of occupational road risk presentations for all its company drivers.
  • Issuing regular road risk briefings that are often linked to the Government’s Think! Campaign and highlight messages such as ‘don’t drink and drive’ and ‘always wear a seatbelt’.
  • Distributing posters that target specific safe driving trends, activities or issues.

Every preventable vehicle accident is centrally reported via a telephone hotline and investigated systematically to establish the route cause.

Investigation outcomes are reviewed to allow any weaknesses or failings to be considered and rectified.

The drivers involved are subject to further desktop and practical driving assessments to identify any training or development needs.