Be Prepared: Managing Occupational Road Risk

We are proud to announce that the prestigious UK membership organisation, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has awarded the Lucion Group Gold for group-wide health and safety performance and our management of occupational road risk for the 6th year in a row.

According to University College London, a third of road deaths and a fifth of serious injuries are sustained in accidents involving a working driver or rider. In reported road collisions in Great Britain in 2022 there were an estimated: 1,695 fatalities, a decline of 3% compared to 2019.

In an effort to improve these numbers, RoSPA has assessed whether employers and regulatory bodies can do more to help educate and protect their employees whilst out on the roads.

Health and Safety Regulations

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HASAW) 1974 requires all employers to take appropriate steps to manage and ensure the health and safety of their employees at work, as far as it is reasonably practicable to do so. This includes the time employees spend driving or travelling to work as well as any driving conducted whilst at work, whether they are in a company or a privately owned vehicle.

Employers are required to manage the driving-related risks of their employees as part of health and safety measures. The HSE states that managing road safety is beneficial to:

• Reduce the risks of work-related ill health
• Minimise stress and promote better welfare
• Reduce the number of injuries to drivers
• Promote awareness of organisational health, safety, and operational procedures

Proactive Protection

The HSE encourages the use of the ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ method to implement a good Safety Management System.

• Plan - Describe how you plan to manage health and safety in your organisations and plan how you will implement your plan into current operational procedures.
• Do - Once you have identified the risks, prioritise your risks depending on the likelihood of something happening and communicate information and training with employees.
• Check - Measure how effective your plan is at protecting your employees from occupational driving-related risks. Encourage employees to report accidents and near misses.
• Act - Review what has been learned from the performance and effectiveness of the plan and react accordingly, adjusting the health and safety policy and operational procedures if necessary.

Managing Occupational Road Risk (MORR)

Developed in 1987 by RoSPA and various partners, the Managing Occupational Road Risks (MORR) was developed to help organisations to take a vested interest in the health and safety of their employees whilst out on the roads (including during their travels to and from work).

MORR must be considered a fundamental element in managing employees' health and safety in and around the workplace, rather than being thought of as an add-on to the current health and safety policies and procedures. Ensuring drivers are made aware of driving specific health and safety practices is vital to safeguarding employees and members of the public.

Operating for over a century, RoSPA promotes best health and safety practices during all occupational activities, including driving. Lucion have held the prestigious Gold RoSPA MORR award since 2014 for demonstrating high standards of fleet safety and executing efficient and great practices for managing road risks.

The Lucion Group has been proactive in implementing driving specific health and safety operational procedures that encourage best practices within its fleet. These practices have resulted in the Group being awarded the Gold RoSPA MORR Award.

Our Fleet Safety Initiatives

As an acquisitive company, we have significantly grown during the past 3 years, acquiring five new companies since April 2021. As we continue on our growth journey and expand our community team members, we established and continue to develop our internal health and safety initiative, Take Care, Be Aware (TCBA).

During the launch of the internal ‘Take Care, Be Aware’ health and safety campaign, we introduced a policy where all our drivers must only reverse into parking spaces.

The policy was introduced to reduce the chances of collisions with pedestrians when drivers were reversing out of parking spaces. Driver training was given to educate employees on the benefits of reversing into spaces, encouraging the protection of the general public, other road users and the drivers themselves.

As part of our initiatives to operate a safe and environmentally conscious fleet, we introduced Lightfoot. Developed in partnership with the Institute of Advanced Motorists and leading driver-behaviour experts at the University of Bath, the technology comes in the form of a pocket-sized dashboard display device (known as the ‘fitbit’ for cars) which connects to the vehicle’s computer and uses live engine data to provide our drivers with real-time visual and audible feedback.

Using advanced, real-time engine analytics which take account of different factors such as load and road gradient; Lightfoot provides live, in-cab coaching, helping drivers improve both efficiency and safety, and rewarding them for being better. 

This guides drivers to the ‘sweet spot of the engine’, improving both engine performance and safety on the roads. The audible end-of-journey score from the device also enables drivers to strive towards achieving Lightfoot’s Elite Driver status score of 85 or more, which unlocks access to weekly prize draws. We are pleased to report that 82% of our drivers have achieved Elite Driver status during the past year, with an average Lightfoot score across all drivers of 87.9%.

Group Operations Director Nick Aspinall commented:

"Through the Lightfoot telematics system and app, we empower our drivers with valuable insights and guidance, enabling them to proactively manage their driving style and pinpoint areas for improvement. This dual advantage leads to heightened awareness, fostering a more thoughtful and considerate driving approach, while also enhancing overall efficiency."

About the Lucion Group

Lucion Group is a purpose-driven company where we protect people from hazardous environments and protect the environment from the impacts of people.

As a private equity-backed business, we are sustainable, interesting and continue to grow and push forward to secure our future as a business not only for our investors, but for our community of people. 

We started our business as a hazardous materials inspection, testing and consultancy on a mission to protect people from hazardous environments. As we grew the business, we naturally expanded, organically and through acquisition. This led to opportunities to also protect the environment from the impacts of people. We are now a group of companies on a mission to protect people and planet. 

Our culture has not been manufactured or created for the purposes of the business, but instead it formed naturally through the interactions of our people and developed from our operations. Through our scientific testing activities as our founding service lines, we have always had to operate with integrity, accuracy and ultimately be trusted to deliver our services. This integrity, and all our values are reflected in our operations across the business.

As a group, we will continue to grow. Our 2022/2027 5-year vision outlines our continual direction towards protecting people and planet. This includes continuing to find new and innovative ways to invest in our health and safety practices. 

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