9 Question Fleet Safety assessment help

OSH 3301, Fleet Safety 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

2. Identify benefits of proactive fleet safety management. 2.1 Recognize the potential successes that safety programs have when incorporated within fleet

management.

6. Evaluate motor fleet accident data analysis and trending processes. 6.1 Explain the benefits that cost analysis has on controlling the economic impacts of safety within

a fleet. 6.2 Assess the various types of direct and indirect costs that affect companies within fleet

management.

Course/Unit Learning

Outcomes

Learning Activity

2.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 6, FMCSA article, Assessment

6.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 5, 6, E3 article, Assessment

6.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 6, FMCSA article, Assessment

Reading Assignment Chapter 5: Basic Economic Analysis and Engineering Economics, pp. 95-104, 106-108 Chapter 6: Cost Analysis and Budgeting, pp. 109-124 In order to access the following resource, click the link below: To gain a better understanding of vehicle’s life-cycle costs and how to calculate when it is time to retire and replace a vehicle, visit the website below. Be sure to download and view the Lifecycle Cost Analysis Tool Excel document as a personal self-help tool. Richmond Sustainability Initiatives and Fraser Basin Council. (n.d.). Lifecycle cost analysis. Retrieved from

http://www.e3fleet.com/cost_analysis.html

Unit Lesson Introduction Over the last two decades, there has been a growing need to understand the economic and financial impact that safety initiatives have on fleet management. In the past, management within companies utilized information from books and journals to determine the best methods for applying safety management practices to safely manage their fleets. This information was then applied to practical methods in conjunction with the most current Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) practices to promote safety. Over 20 years ago, management used what they knew to try to apply practices already in place. These past management

UNIT II STUDY GUIDE

Accident Prevention in Small Fleets

OSH 3301, Fleet Safety 2

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practices used the information and data from past accidents to forecast future changes within their safety culture, which created a form of reactive management. Currently, management is now analyzing new methods to proactively apply safety in managing their fleets. They are using the information from the results of current safety practices to determine whether they are effective to analyze cost control methods and to determine if the current OSH information is efficient enough to sustain safety within fleets or if the results call for a change in safety management. If it is determined to not be effective, then new methods are proposed in changing workplace safety and fleet management procedures to become more efficient for future use. Economic Analysis The execution of economic analysis within a proactive environment provides methods for attempting to successfully forecast future trends in safety. The performance of the OSH standards highlights the concern for the need for change in safety practices and in the present-day population. More companies are starting to demonstrate the relationship between safety and the impacts of OSH guidelines. It is to the company’s benefit to address all issues as they arise to mitigate future problems. Companies are finding that they are losing profits by not understanding the economic impacts of the strategic planning and analysis processes that they can utilize to forecast future changes within fleets. Management that ensures compliance with regulations, while using economic analysis, can reallocate budgets and actively make investment decisions based on profitability from current safety practices. Potential beneficial outcomes that have been established through effective analyzation are listed below:

 a refined understanding of the products, technologies, processes, and services that tend to drive OSH life-cycle costs;

 a more complete and objective data set on lifecycle costs and profitability potential of OSH investments, enabling improvements to products, technology, process, and service designs;

 an enhanced way of determining which OSH management strategies and technical tactics to pursue and what level of investment will be required; and

 a new investment analysis structure in which fashioning OSH issues and practices affect how business decisions are made and in which business needs affect how OSH decisions are made (Veltri, 1997).

Processing and understanding a full life-cycle assessment of safety training and fleet management practices within an organization is quantifiable and detailed in allowing management to pursue actions that can be taken to propose new OSH regulations and apply innovative safety practices within their companies. When an organization is reactive instead of proactive, they can only respond to issues within the safety programs after a problem has occurred. If an organization is proactive, they can apply strategic planning and analysis to reduce future liability from operational failures from the past and improve measures through understanding the impacts of financial analysis. Profitability for all companies is the key to success; however, it must stay in compliance with both the Department of Transportation (DOT) and OSH regulations in conducting a cost-benefit analysis to determine improved methods of safety to utilize for the future of fleet management programs. Cost Analysis Determining the risks and costs associated with maintaining an economical fleet is the forefront of the life- cycle assessment phases. Fleet management is not only associated with safety measures but also the costs necessary to maintain vehicles, provide training, and facilitate operational excellence. In maintaining vehicles, acquisition of permits and compliance controls is a necessary part of maintaining an equal balance between regulations and cost control. There are multiple costs associated with obtaining operation permits that can range from daily permits to annual permits. In addition to this, companies must retain monetary capital to purchase the necessary equipment to operate fleet vehicles. Organizations must use capital and resources efficiently to provide support and training in maintaining fleets. Presently, the data from analyzing fleet safety management demonstrates an increased number of successful safety measures implemented by management (Haight, 2015). Increased costs to a company result from an organization not actively measuring the results of the application of safety procedures. Management must take into consideration the past costs of on-the-job accidents and the impact to total costs within the budgets as well as future costs. How managers view safety is the start of how they will manage their fleets and promote safety as not only a culture but also a rule within their organization.

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In conducting an economic analysis of the impacts of appropriate safety procedures, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other organizations, including the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), have determined some of the causes of inappropriate safety actions that have resulted in increased costs for the company. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has determined that the average vehicle crash costs an employer around $16,500 (OSHA, NHTSA, & NETS, n.d.). In evaluating the loss analysis to determine employer costs, organizations have determined that problems such as drivers’ use of hand-held devices, use of cell phones, and distracted driving are the top causes for crashes. When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) introduced the Safety Measurement System (SMS) as a proactive control to identify safety interventions, motor carrier data began to introduce the results that innovative safety measures have on fleet management. SMS also provides reports outlining past accidents with detailed information about what exactly took place within those incidents such as driver location, passenger information, accident descriptions, and environmental conditions. These measures can be continuously reviewed in real time, allowing companies to utilize current federal and OSH safety policies in alignment with an organization’s current safety training program to administer more up-to-date training measures to prevent monetary loss from fleet safety problems. To specifically use data to determine performance, the SMS has developed categories that assign accidents into areas used to forecast and increase training opportunities to professional drivers to help prevent these problems in the future. These categories include unsafe driving practices, fatigued driving, the level of fitness determined for professional drivers, the use of drugs and alcohol while on the job, vehicle-related maintenance procedures, cargo-related failures while in transit, and crash indicators. These performance measures assist each motor carrier in successfully managing fleet operations while working toward viable solutions for future operations. Accidents are an expensive venture for companies to navigate through each year. Continuous analyzation of past and current accidents can help fleet safety professionals to mitigate future problems. Given this, companies must also analyze the direct and indirect costs of all on-the-job accidents. Since there are different costs to employers for different types of accidents, companies can use past and current information to prevent or lower future risks. Direct costs to employers include how the results of an accident can directly impact an employer’s administration. A few examples of this include repairs to fleet vehicles, which result in an overall loss of revenue directly to the employer, and medical costs incurred from an accident where a fleet vehicle was involved. Indirect costs to employers stem from actions taken that resulted in an accident. An example of an indirect cost would be a missed safety training program, which can result in a lack of knowledge for drivers operating fleet vehicles. In estimating the total costs of the results of accidents, multiply the direct cost by the cost multiplier (which is determined by the actual direct cost) to calculate the indirect cost. Then, add the direct cost to the indirect cost, and the resulting numerical value will be the total cost of the specified incident to the employer. Additional costs can be determined by successfully managing a budget, which is established to properly control monetary costs. The cost of driver training also affects employers’ costs. Training is a key factor in many areas of not only managing and promoting safety but also preventing loss. Anticipating future costs while evaluating past causes helps to determine countermeasures for lowering the risk of future issues. While evaluating the risks of driving is important within fleet safety management, managing the total overall costs is also an important factor in conjunction with reducing the cost impacts to employers that result from on-the-job accidents. Motor vehicle trends and safety procedures are an important process within fleet management. The primary responsibility for safely managing fleets lies with the senior management within an organization. Management officials must put safety before costs; however, they need to recognize that they can lower costs by delivering safety training correctly. They must utilize DOT federal regulations and OSH safety regulations while conducting their own individual cost-benefit analysis to economically administer the appropriate safety training for professional drivers within their fleets in addition to maintaining their fleets with preventative vehicle maintenance. Without ongoing analysis, management cannot maintain the necessary measures for safety within their organizations.

References Haight, J. M. (Ed.). (2015). Fleet safety: For safety professionals and fleet managers. Park Ridge, IL:

American Society of Safety Engineers.

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, & Network of Employers for Traffic Safety. (n.d.). Guidelines for employers to reduce motor vehicle crashes [White paper]. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/motor_vehicle_guide.pdf

Veltri, A. (1997, September 30). Environment, safety, and health (ESH) cost model development (Report No.

ESHA002/S67). Retrieved from Sematech website: http://www.sematech.org/docubase/document/3350aeng.pdf

Suggested Reading In order to access the following resources, click the links below: Explore the methodology and various elements of the Safety Measurement System (SMS). U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2016, December). Safety

Measurement System (SMS) methodology: Behavior analysis and safety improvement category (BASIC) prioritization status. Retrieved from https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMSMethodology.pdf

Review the seven BASICs of safety under the SMS by accessing the link below. In addition, review the link under each section to fully understand the concepts of the SMS. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. (2015, March). Get road

smart about the 7 BASICs of safety. Retrieved from https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/CSA_GRS_Visor_S.pdf

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) Non-Graded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. Review the Safety Alert Network online at http://www.safetyalerthotline.com/, and consider how the hotline works to help prevent future on-the-job accidents with drivers operating fleet vehicles. How is the hotline used by companies, and what types of reports come from the public through this hotline? How are these reports assisting companies in providing more effective training methods to drivers?