Corporate social responsibility is vital in business. How does Kwik-Fit Fleet demonstrate that to its business customers?

“At Kwik Fit we recognise the importance and impact the corporate and social responsibility regulation has upon all motorists and we support our business customers by providing the tools needed to accommodate change.” – Kwik-Fit website

Corporate responsibility has many definitions. One could very simply be how a company manages the impact of its products and its operations on its stakeholders – employees, business partners, customers and the wider community.

There is no doubt that it is one of the fashionable phrases in today’s business world. Indeed, transparency and reporting on actions taken under the banner of corporate responsibility feature frequently in annual company reports.

But in fleet terms what does it mean? Essentially, it can be perhaps defined as caring for the environment and your staff and by your actions influencing the activities of rival organisations, business partners and consumers.

Indeed, the two issues of safety and the environment are inextricably linked. Effective management of at-work driving will undoubtedly improve the safety of your employees and other road users, while simultaneously delivering environmental benefits that will improve your overall business performance.

Most boards of directors would assert that they do care about the environment and most certainly do care about their staff.

While ‘greening’ a company fleet is perhaps more associated with business ethics, a health and safety at work policy, also embracing occupational driving, is a legal essential. But both, introduced effectively, can be hugely beneficial.

Road safety – duty of care

There are estimated to be up to 200 road deaths and serious injuries a week resulting from crashes involving at-work drivers, and more employees are killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads while driving on behalf of their employer than in any other work-related activity, according to the Driving for Better Business campaign.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a statutory duty to ensure the ‘health, safety and welfare’ of all employees at work – and that includes driving for work.

In addition, under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, equipment used at work must be suitable for the task and legal experts say that includes employee-owned vehicles driven on business.

In total there are around 20 pieces of legislation, guidelines and protocols impacting on at-work driving, also including legislation such as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, European Commission-inspired Working Time Directive, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, the Road Traffic Act and the Road Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations.

At Kwik-Fit Fleet we recognise the importance of keeping drivers safe on the roads, so we support our business customers by providing the tools needed to achieve corporate responsibility.

An example of our pro-active approach to occupational road risk management has been our long-standing free five-point winter safety check as well as our mobile technicians carrying out thousands of tyre health checks in company car parks across the UK.

More recently, we added brake checks to our safety portfolio and in 2010/11 launched our first cold weather (winter) tyre campaign, which has proved to be a massive success.

Road casualties peak in the winter months with many crashes caused by vehicles not being in tip-top condition – so we offer Kwik-Fit free winter checks and urge fleet chiefs and company car drivers to call in at a centre for the no-appointment work to be undertaken.

The free checks cover:

• Tyre check – pressures, tread depth and general condition (including spare)
• Battery check – using electronic test equipment
• Exhaust check – condition and fitment including hangers and brackets
• Tracking check – visual check to determine if the tyres show related wear
• Glass/wipers check – condition of vehicle glass and wipers

Meanwhile, as the importance of managing occupational road risk has risen up the corporate agenda, demand for tyre safety checks has increased.

Last year we carried out more than 250,000 checks at company premises or a driver’s location of choice.

The worrying aspect of the checks is that initially our technicians find that about 25% of company vehicles inspected require attention - usually tyres being replaced because they are illegal.

Extrapolated across the UK’s three million-strong company cars and one million vans, this means that up to 800,000 vehicles could be running on at least one unsafe tyre.

Typically tyres may be under or over-inflated; tread may be below, or close to the 1.6mm legal minimum across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tyre and around the entire circumference; tyre wear may be irregular which may indicate a wheel alignment or vehicle loading problem; or the wall of a tyre may be damaged.

The current fine for driving on illegal tyres is £2,500 per tyre and three points per tyre on a driving licence.

At 70mph the stopping distance of a car fitted with a new tyre with 8mm of tread is almost 100 metres; with 3mm of tread remaining this increases to 150 metres; and with 1.6mm of tread remaining it is 200 metres – double that of a vehicle fitted with a new tyre – and with just 1mm of a tread remaining a car’s stopping distance is 250 metres.

Tyres are the only part of a vehicle that are in contact with the road so it is essential that they are in tip-top condition.

Ensuring tyres meet the legal requirements is a vital part of any corporate risk strategy.

In the event of a crash involving a vehicle being driven on business, tyre condition will be one of the issues looked at by investigating police officers.

A failure to ensure checks are being carried out and to have a record of those checks could leave companies wide open to court action.

Meanwhile, our centres on average see a company at least once a year and by default when the tyres are off the technicians will undertake a visual brake check.

A free and comprehensive brake inspection will be carried out with fleet approval and if any work is required it will only be completed after gaining fleet operator confirmation.

Technicians are fitting an increasing number of company vehicles with new brake pads, because of extended vehicle service intervals and the growing importance of at-work driving safety, which together are making regular brake inspections more critical than ever.

Additionally, drivers are detecting brake-related problems in their company cars. Many vehicles are now fitted with warning lights that ‘flash up’ a potential problem and advise that maintenance be carried out immediately.

The average company car driver can expect to replace the brake pads on their vehicle once a year.

However, many vehicles, due to their design and usage, may require brake inspections up to four times a year.

A free brake inspection can prove to be a major cost saving for fleet managers.

A few minutes spent inspecting brake pads could save a hefty bill for brake disc replacement if the pads are allowed to wear down to the metal. It is false economy not to have brakes inspected for wear and tear.

Meanwhile, the recent harsh winter weather across the UK has sparked such a surge of demand for cold weather tyres that we sold out of our supply within a couple of months.

So we are urging fleet chiefs who chose not to order cold weather car tyres before the 2010/11 Arctic blitz struck to make their 2011/12 bookings as soon as possible.

It’s too late to start thinking about this once the snow starts falling. Advance planning and order placement by businesses is essential.

Despite the significant benefits provided by these tyres, only 3% of respondents to a survey by TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety organisation, said they fitted them.

Unlike some European countries, the UK does not have compulsory legislation forcing the fitment of winter weather tyres between certain dates.

Winter tyres significantly improve grip and reduce stopping distances at temperatures below 7°Celsius because, unlike normal driving tyres whose performance is impeded at such temperature, they are composed of more rubber and less silicone so they don’t harden so much when it is cold.