ATTENTION EMPLOYERS
Stressed Drivers
If your employees drive during working hours on company business, what are you doing to ensure that their inappropriate stress responses are not undermining your business?
Employed drivers present a serious stress risk and monitoring problem for many employers. Times when these employees are either driving company vehicles or personal vehicles on behalf of their employer, there is very little an employer can do to monitor and assess the levels of stress being experienced by those drivers, yet you as an employer remain responsible for many of their actions.
LOST CUSTOMERS
Recent research has indicated that the negative and sometimes aggressive attitude of delivery drivers, especially at the the delivery point, is one of the main causes of customer dissatisfaction which result in a change of supplier. The observed attitude of aggressive drivers often dissuades potential new customers from using your organisation’s services. Much of this negativity and aggression has been attributed to an inability to manage personal stress.
ROAD RAGE
Road rage becomes a particular issue of great concern to many employers where the employee stress is being expressed as extreme aggression and / or recklessness, especially where the employee is driving a company marked vehicle. They are causing serious damage to the company image and reputation.
Drivers who are unable to control their stress often carry that stress beyond the vehicle so upset customers and other employees.
They may even become involved in a road rage incident which could involve you as their employer in legal proceedings and seriously bad publicity. It is possible that the driver could make claims against you if they can prove that you as their employer were acting unreasonably, e.g. making unreasonable demands on them, especially if you had failed to meet your statutory requirements with regard to stress risk assessment.
MANAGING STRESS RISK
All employers have a legal duty under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations to manage the risk to employee health and safety caused by stress. You will be expected to provide evidence that you has assessed the stress risk caused to your employees whilst driving at work and implemented initiatives to minimise that stress risk.
CALMER DRIVER TRAINING
Professional Stress Managers are suggesting that the solution is for employers to send their employees on Calmer Driver workshops. This not only reduces the chances of a stress related incident but also helps to protect the employer as valid and appropriate stress reduction and risk minimisation measures have been undertaken.
BOOKING A WORKSHOP
We offer a series of two half day workshops essential if you have employees driving on your business during paid employment time. These two workshops are spaced 30 days apart to allow drivers to practice and report back on the the claming techniques taught in the first workshop.
In addition to developing an understanding of anger and stress management, attendees learn techniques suitable for use while driving which include how to avoid road rage and a quick calm down routines to be used before coming into contact with customers.
Training for less than £60 per employee
Workshop series start at just £1150.00 for up to 20 attendees, plus expenses. Click below to get more details and arrange your workshops.
CORPORATE STRESS MANAGEMENT
STRESS RISK ASSESSMENTS
If you have the responsibility for organising your organisation’s statutory stress risk assessments in accordance with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, you can get professional help from Corbiere
www.the-
www.klinkenberg.co.uk
If you have to do the work yourself you can find some excellent free professional tools to help you at Stressbiz
www.stressbiz.co.uk