Case Study: ICI Dulux
Between May 1999 and May 2000, ICI Dulux Trade Paints UK (Commercial Operations), part of the multi-national ICI Group, recorded 28 blameworthy accidents involving cars.
The fleet is located nationwide with home-based sales representatives clocking up an average of 29,000 miles a year. The division began working with driver training firm Drivetech in May 2000 and between January 2004 and January 2005 has clocked up 6.2 million miles with just two blameworthy accidents.
Across the entire fleet of ICI Dulux Trade Paints UK (Commercial Operations), which is composed of 245 cars, there were just 15 culpable accidents. All staff who drive on business - around 600 employees in total - complete a half-day individual driver training course as part of their two-week corporate induction programme. That is followed by a refresher training course every three years, while high-mileage drivers also complete a training workshop after 18 months on the road.
Every accident - both blameworthy and non-blameworthy - as well as near misses, is investigated by ICI and, if deemed necessary, employees receive counselling and may undergo additional training programmes. The company is now considering utilising Drivetech's e-learning speed awareness module in its training schedule as well as the company's driving licence check service.
Jim Kirkwood managing director of Drivetech, says: "The results are compelling and have significantly reduced driver risk - and costs - within the business. In the five years we have been working with the company, the number of miles driven by staff has increased 11%. However, the number of culpable accidents per 100,000 km has reduced from 0.42 to 0.09 and the number of non-culpable accidents from 0.34 to 0.19."
