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Romex launches new module to manage risk to drivers
According to the Health & Safety Executive's 'Driving at Work' publication, the biggest cause of occupational fatality is driving on business. There are more than 20 people killed and a further 250 seriously injured every week.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents states that: "Drivers who were using a mobile phone were nine times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident," while the National Safety Council in the US notes that: "Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted" (US Government Distraction).
Romex World, an innovative technology company specialising in workforce management solutions has developed a new Driver Distraction Prevention application which can be installed onto employees' telephones. This application will cut-off and block all voice calls and lock the keypad to prevent any texting (or emailing) less than one minute after the start of a business journey. Employees will receive an announcement via their phone if there is missed message requiring them to stop in a safe place and take the message.
For many companies the biggest problem is how to identify which drivers are putting themselves and the company at risk and how to measure the success (or failure) of efforts to reduce risk. Through this software, companies can realise their work related road safety policy and manage risk and compliance with changes in legislation simply and effectively.
This system is implemented by simply sending the application onto the employee's GPS enabled mobile phone. There is no need to install any hardware in any vehicles - whether that of the company or the employees vehicle.
In addition to obvious aspects such as speeding and fatigue, Romex application monitors other actions undertaken whilst driving - in particular the use of mobile phones. Romex has developed and provides a set of reports to measure which can inter alia:-
* Analyse speeding by comparing actual speed with the speed limit on the roads the employee has driven on.
* Monitor any fatigue, based on employees driving for too long without a break or driving on business after working for too long.
With an ever increasing mobile workforce Driver Distraction Prevention is a regular topic of discussion in the media, with solicitor Nick Freeman ('Mr Loophole' renowned for getting his clients off speeding charges) stating recently: "The law is woefully inadequate and punishment for texting whilst driving should be on a par with drink driving." In May 2012, Coca Cola was fined more than $21 million when one of its employees was operating a company vehicle whilst on the phone and caused an accident.
T: 0808 123 0 321
W: www.romexworld.com
17th May 2013