ROAD SAFETY
Seven months after the horrific tanker
explosion which claimed the lives of 44
people in Boksburg, there are still huge
clouds hanging over the incident. No
entity has claimed responsibility, the
investigations have ground to a halt,
outcomes have been white-washed and
families of victims have still not received
any kind of compensation.
It is business as usual. People have
moved on. Only families devastated
by the loss of their loved ones in such
a tragic incident are left to pick up
the pieces of their lives and continue
long after the promises made by wily
politicians on television cameras haven’t
been met.
Another tragedy that occurred
recently is the underground explosion
in central Johannesburg. According to
some media reports, already, no entity
has accepted responsibility and investi-
gations will once again lead to a dead-
end, with no consequence management.
About two years ago, a torrential
downpour in Centurion, Pretoria,
resulted in a huge sinkhole forming
on the M10 resulting in the closure of
this key arterial road leading to the N1
highway. Another sinkhole appeared
around the same time on another
major road, the R21 (OR Tambo airport
highway) northbound, not far from
the Olifantsfontein off-ramp. Luckily,
the entire width of the road was not
damaged, but three lanes are reduced to
two, resulting in huge bottlenecks during
peak traffic flow periods.
Both these roads are not being
repaired and there is absolutely no
indication whether the provincial or
national roads agency is responsible. All
this in the economic heartland of the
country.
This gross negligence and intran-
sigence are playing havoc with the
moral psyche of the ordinary populace
in general and business-people in
particular. Every-where one looks there
is yet another sad story of the failure to
be accountable or take responsibility.
Shrugging the shoulders, looking the
other way, getting the stuff delivered –
nomakanjani (Zulu for no matter what)
– is costing fleet companies dearly.
Road safety within fleet companies
cannot merely be a tick-box exercise. A
task begrudgingly delegated to junior
staff members or receptionists to fill
their job descriptions. Driving for work
should be a safety critical objective of
any fleet company transport policy with
clear lines of accountability, responsibili-
ty and transparency.
Some of the best fleet safety practic-
es, both locally and internationally, have
proven without doubt that the fleets
driven by a top management that instils
a culture of built-in safety, rather than
bolt-on objectives remains the single
most important ingredient in the road
safety of any company fleet. The culture
of overall safety should run through
every work-stream of a company and
should include safety for its staff, clients,
service providers and shareholders.
What should an effective fleet
safety or transport safety policy include,
apart from the usual use and abuse
regulations?
A good fleet management policy
should aim to improve cost efficiency,
enhance customer satisfaction, reduce
downtime as well as increase the morale
and productivity in the company which
can result in a greater positive image.
The policy should cover all areas from
the driver screening, selection, recruit-
ment, training, deployment, monitoring
and evaluation and should provide clear
lines of reporting and communication.
Performance management should
be integral to this policy with clear
targets and unambiguous measures for
remediation explained in detail for any
transgression. All managers, supervisors
Responsibility, accountability and
transparency are the missing links
BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | August 2023
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