Every year, there are over 80,000 injuries in the American trucking industry, more than eight hundred of which are fatal. This makes shipping one of the most dangerous jobs in the modern United States. As a shipping company, you have a responsibility to protect your workers from these risks. The following safety steps will allow you to do just this, providing a secure and attractive work environment for your entire staff:
Step 1: Double Up Drivers
One of the simplest ways you can raise driver safety is to send your truckers out in teams of two. This lowers road risks on multiple fronts, including by:
- Promoting Full Rest– On longer routes, your drivers can alternate between taking the wheel and resting. This ensures both of them are awake and alert enough to handle the vehicle safely.
- Providing Assistance in an Emergency– If one of the drivers has a health emergency, the other can contact health professionals, transport them to a medical facility, and help them cope with it in the moment.
- Splitting Up Tasks– The driver who isn’t behind the wheel can handle calls, search for rest stops, and otherwise take over supplementary tasks; this leaves the other driver free to focus on the road. The driver who isn’t at the wheel can also help the one who is look out for hazards and obstacles.
Besides improving safety, team driving benefits morale, as drivers no longer have to feel isolated on the road. You can thus protect drivers and raise their job satisfaction in one fell swoop.
Step 2: Offer Emergency Training
The second step to protecting your employees is to organize periodic educational programs that train them to deal with emergencies on the road. Such programs should include not only technical training, such as how to fix a vehicle that breaks down en route, but also health training. By teaching your drivers CPR and other first aid practices, you empower them to save each other’s lives on the road. As long as you’re also sending them out in teams of two, you limit the chance that anyone will have to deal with choking, heart trouble, and other medical issues on their own.
Step 3: Invest in Advanced Software
Modern trucking software and apps offer a wide range of benefits for your drivers. These range from the ability to identify obstacles and steer around them, to help finding rest stops and gas stations, to suggestions for saving fuel and getting to their destination more quickly. These and other services mean your drivers won’t have to focus as much on supplementary activities, leaving them free to watch the road. They also help drivers get enough rest, food, and supplies to do their jobs safely and competently. The less distracted, more rested, and better fed your drivers are, the lower the odds that they will get into an accident on the job.
F.A.S.T. offers employee CPR and first aid training, along with detailed information on everything you can do to keep your workplace safe. For more information or to request our services, visit our website today.
