Case Study - Centrica/British Gas
Profile
| Company Name: |
British Gas |
| Business Sector: |
Energy provider |
| Postal Address: |
Lakeside House 30 The Causeway Staines Middlesex |
| Postcode: |
TW18 3BY |
| Fleet Size Overall: |
15,500 vehicles in UK |
| HGV: |
20 |
| LGV: |
9,800 |
| Company Cars: |
2,280 |
| Private vehicles used for business purposes: |
3,400 |
Company Overview
British Gas supplies gas and electricity to UK residential and business customers and provides central heating and gas appliance installation services. The business is divided into four areas, Residential, Services, Business and New Energy.
- Residential, is the biggest supplier of gas and electricity in Britain's domestic market with more than 16m customer accounts.
- Services are Britain’s largest operator in the installation and maintenance of domestic central heating and gas appliances employing more than 9,000 engineers. Services also provide comprehensive maintenance and breakdown services for electrical white goods, home wiring and, through the Dyno brand, drains, plumbing and home security services.
Services are Britain’s largest single employer and trainer of gas engineers, investing around £26m in training each year.
British Gas Services has been named in the Financial Times' Best Workplaces UK 2007 index.
- Business is Britain's leading supplier of energy to business, from small to medium-sized customers through to large industrial and commercial users.
- New Energy, was launched in April 2007 to supply the growing British market for low-carbon and energy-efficient products and services.
British Gas has one of the largest fleets in the UK and it is important for employees and customers that a pro-active approach to managing foreseeable risks is demonstrated.
Nature of Operation and Driving Activities
Compliance with the joint Health and Safety Executive/ Department for Transport guidance on ‘Work-related Road Safety’, issued in September 2003, is particularly important and is the basis of the road risk policy.
British Gas operates approximately 15,000 vehicles in the UK and is therefore very serious about the safety performance of its fleet and its impact on the wider society in which they operate. The road safety programmes described below are based on the belief that promoting sound driving practices at work also extends to private driving, which should reduce the chances of employees, family members and people in the local community being injured in vehicle collisions.
- Very detailed fuel monitoring and incident analysis
- Vehicle safety features
- Young driver safety initiative
- Electronic licence checks
- Multi-media driver risk assessment
- Permit to Drive based on Safe Driving Pledge and Risk Foundation
- Five year road safety business plan
- Non-business drivers
Organisational Structure
In November 2006, the British Gas directors authorised a Five-year Business Case for British Gas’s road safety improvement plan to cover all 16,000 of its employees who travel in the course of their employment. The total investment from British Gas over the next five years is calculated at £1,164,981. This level of investment demonstrates a massive commitment to road safety and environmental improvement. Based on conservative figures, the projected payback period is 2 years. As well as the road safety and financial improvements identified, it is also likely to help reduce British Gas’s carbon footprint through better vehicle utilisation and more fuel-efficient driving. As a business in the public eye, and working at the heart of communities throughout the UK, we are proud of our achievements to date.
Work related Road Safety Policy and Procedures
Fuel monitoring
British Gas has implemented what is probably the UK’s most detailed and comprehensive fuel monitoring program, with vehicles subject to fuel data analysis with feedback and practical advice on improving efficiency. British Gas is in a unique position within the UK Fleet industry as they know the fuel efficiency of all types of vehicles currently operating and only acquire the best performers, thus challenging manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient engines if they wish to be associated with British Gas in the future. British Gas is working towards combining its vehicle collision data with fuel efficiency data to verify the relationship between excessive fuel use and poor road safety.
Detailed incident analysis
British Gas has undertaken a highly detailed incident analysis to allow all risks to be targeted on the basis of need. The data from this analysis is being built into a Risk Event Management system to provide ongoing 24/7/365 visibility on the data. British Gas is particularly pleased that its successful focus on young drivers and apprentices over the last two years resulted from its collision data on this group within its workforce.
Vehicle Safety Features
Vehicle Safety Features are important to the business who took the decision to restrict all new British Gas vans to a maximum speed of 70 mph. During 2006, 3,400 speed-restricted vehicles were delivered, followed by a planned 2,200 in 2007. This initiative has positively influenced both road safety and fuel consumption, reducing the potential for drivers to be involved in high-speed incidents. All vans now display a 70 mph maximum speed sticker on the rear doors to advise other road users. With our level of buying power, British Gas has now forced a number of high profile vehicle manufacturers to offer speed limitation as a standard option – contributing to wider road safety in the community. Several other large fleets have recently followed this initiative.
Young drivers
During 2006, a total of 560 new apprentices were recruited, in 2007 this totalled an additional 549. Part of their induction includes a young driver program for trainee engineers that drive as part of their daily duties. Based on 2005/6 data, British Gas identified that its young drivers were a very high-risk group. The one-day fleet induction programme includes:
- In vehicle assessment
- Driver profile booklet
- Class room sessions on road safety, fuel efficiency, vehicle management and other fleet issues
- Eyesight and licence check
- ‘Think’ campaign videos’ to supplement road safety issues
In total during 2006/7, over 1,000 drivers were ‘touched’ by what has become one of the largest ever initiatives of its type undertaken in the UK, an additional 780 driver will be inducted during 2008. The program is also important in the context of the wider concerns for young driver road safety in the UK population as a whole because the 1/10 drivers in the UK are under 25 are involved in ¼ of the road fatalities. The British Gas young driver program was designed with this statistic in mind, and was partly inspired the young driver theme for Road Safety Week in 2006. Young apprentices driving a van not long after passing their test in a small vehicle are particularly vulnerable – and have been successfully identified and targeted as such by the British Gas initiative. It is also clear that British Gas older drivers are at risk, and now that the young driver program is well established, plans are in-hand to target relevant interventions at ageing drivers as well.
Work related Road Safety Guidance for drivers
Electronic licence entitlement checks
British Gas ensures all employees have the appropriate licence, which are visually checked by a driver trainer, and then verified electronically with DVLA through the electronic driver licence entitlement check, which ensures no employee can drive unlicensed.
Multi-media driver risk assessment
British Gas also use driver risk assessments which are carried out either ‘in-vehicle’ with an advanced driving instructor, through a booklet completed in a classroom or web based, to target both engineers and company car drivers, in addition to young drivers. For example, during 2006 and 2007, British Gas assessed over 5,000 employees via all of the above interventions.
Permit to drive
From January 2007 British Gas embarked on asking employees who drive either company cars or their own vehicle at work, to go online and sign the company's Safe Driving Pledge and undertake a targeted Risk Foundation program, which will act as their permit to drive.
Collision reduction
The table below shows a significant reduction in vehicle collisions and associated costs over the past 2 years.
UK vehicle fleet costs and claims, 2005 to 2007 (Jan to December inclusive)
Comparing 2005, 2006 and 2007 vehicle collision figures
Annual Summary
|
|
Own damage |
Own damage costs |
No. vehicles |
Own Damage Incident rate |
Number of Third Party claims |
Cost of Third Party claims (including reserve) |
Total Claims |
Total incident costs |
British Gas |
2005 |
3,589 |
£3,159,819 |
9,837 |
0.365 |
1,174 |
£3,077,698 |
4,763 |
£6,237,517 |
| 2006 |
3,380 |
£2,661,477 |
9,989 |
0.338 |
1,297 |
£3,122,542 |
4,677 |
£5,784,019 |
| 2007 |
3,101 |
£2,628,191 |
9,754 |
0.318 |
1,219 |
£3,792,146 |
4,320 |
£6,420,337 |
| Variance |
-488 |
-£531,628 |
-83 |
-0.047 |
45 |
£714,448 |
-443 |
£182,820 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Other Centrica |
2005 |
1,705 |
£1,511,371 |
2,661 |
0.641 |
315 |
£688,839 |
2,020 |
£2,200,210 |
| 2006 |
1,475 |
£1,254,601 |
2,353 |
0.627 |
242 |
£698,135 |
1,717 |
£1,952,736 |
| 2007 |
1,296 |
£1,115,191 |
2,297 |
0.564 |
234 |
£589,332 |
1,530 |
£1,704,523 |
| Variance |
-409 |
-£396,180 |
-364 |
-0.077 |
-81 |
-£99,507 |
-490 |
-£495,687 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
2005 |
5,294 |
£4,671,190 |
12,498 |
0.424 |
1,489 |
£3,766,537 |
6,783 |
£8,437,727 |
| 2006 |
4,855 |
£3,916,078 |
12,342 |
0.393 |
1,539 |
£3,820,677 |
6,394 |
£7,736,755 |
| 2007 |
4,397 |
£3,743,382 |
12,051 |
0.365 |
1,453 |
£4,381,478 |
5,850 |
£8,124,860 |
| Variance |
-897 |
-£927,808 |
-447 |
-0.059 |
-36 |
£614,941 |
-933 |
-£312,867 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Variance |
-14.6% |
|
Data with regards to refurbishment, vandalism and malicious damage removed from the above figures.
'Third Party' claims based on Loss Date, 'Own Damage' claims based on Incident Date.
'Other Centrica' comprises the unbranded company car fleet.
Total 'Third Party' claims for 2006 includes £2,571,776 in reserves and £1,248,902 paid.
Total 'Third Party' claims for 2007 includes £2,980,991 in reserves and £1,400,486 paid.
5 Industry benchmarking suggest that over the last 18 months the road safety initiatives have gone way beyond what is common in the wider transport industry. British Gas has cut collisions by 14.6% and reduced costs by £312,867 plus has had a wider impact on the communities in which British Gas operate.
Financial and other benefits
In November 2006, the British Gas directors authorised a five-year business case for their occupational road risk policy to cover all 16,000 of its employees who travel in the course of their employment. The program is holistic; innovative, data-led, proactive, and a genuine attempt to improve road safety in the UK – with wider benefits for the communities in which British Gas operates. It covers the risk assessment, licence checking and development of: engineers; company car drivers; cash alternative drivers; casual users; recruits; and any driver involved in two or more collisions each year.
The table below estimates how many employees will be ‘touched’ each year.
| Employee Type |
Total |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
| Engineer |
9,833 |
2,000 |
2,000 |
2,000 |
2,000 |
1,833 |
| Company car driver |
2,435 |
812 |
812 |
811 |
812 |
812 |
| Cash alternative |
867 |
867 |
0 |
0 |
867 |
0 |
| Casual user |
1,935 |
1,935 |
0 |
0 |
1,935 |
0 |
| New recruit driver |
782 |
782 |
782 |
782 |
782 |
782 |
| >=2 vehicle collisions |
10% |
802 |
278 |
278 |
802 |
262 |
| Total |
15,852 |
7,198 |
3,872 |
3,871 |
7,198 |
3,689 |
British Gas currently spend approximately £7.7 million per year on ‘bent metal’ in their fleet of 9,833 vans, 2,435 company cars, 867 ‘cash alternative’ business users and 1,935 ‘casual users’, as well as £14 million on fuel bills.
Lessons learned
To enable the successful implementation of any new initiative you must have commitment from the top of any organisation. During the first year of implementation of the new road safety procedures there was limited internal publicity and so many employees were unaware of why they were being asked to participate in such initiatives. More recently success during the 2007 in a number of road safety awards has received company wide acclaim. In addition at the start of each year all initiatives are discussed directly with senior managers responsible for business units prior to implementation for their direct staff, this ensures support is received and so all staff willingly participate in the road safety strategy.
Current and future developments
Be Smart
British Gas is now implementing a web based driver development programme, named 'Be Smart' which incorporates safe and fuel efficient driving techniques through text, video and voice. Be Smart has been produced to assist in reducing the risks associated with driving. Driver development will increase safety when driving by developing knowledge and driving skills. The benefits will not only aid the individual driver, they will also extend to family and friends who travel as passengers.
Be Smart is an e-learning Safe and Fuel Efficient Driver Development product, which is an industry leading environmental initiative. Drivers have the choice to monitor their own individual vehicle fuel efficiency pre and post training to quantify the benefits in terms of improved MPG and reduced Tonnes of CO2. The system is designed for drivers who are keen to improve Safe and Fuel Efficient driving skills so they have the opportunity to put these skills in to practice. The product will be further developed to release across the wider British Gas community to assist in reducing the overall Carbon Footprint from travel.
Centrica now require “something new and innovative within the Fleet industry” to take future success to a higher level. The system is designed to introduce users to Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving techniques and is a learning and development package, which is currently unique within the fleet industry.
Driver profile booklet
British Gas have also recently developed a driver profile booklet which is based on common sense. The booklet aims to promote professionalism and best practice whilst driving, which should help reduce the risk of vehicle collisions, toll of casualties and related injuries for all road users.
Finally the individual is advised that through the investment in a comprehensive occupational road risk policy that British Gas pledges to do everything it can to protect the road safety and well-being of our staff and other road users.
To support this British Gas are looking for the very best from all their people and request the commitment to be as safe a driver as possible, and abide by the company safe driving pledge.
British Gas hope the two new initiatives will have a major impact on safe and fuel efficient driving within the business which may lead to further industry recognition during 2009.
Additional information
British Gas has received a great deal of external recognition for its road safety initiatives, which have been copied by many other organisations. Examples include:
- Early involvement in the Road Haulage Modernisation Fund, and SAFED for trucks program
- Regular features in the trade press
- Speaking at key industry events in the UK and overseas
- Pioneering involvement in the SAFED for vans program
- Being asked to benchmark data and processes with a number of other high profile fleets
- Volunteering to take part in industry initiatives such as the Roadsafe / Department for transport Driving for Better Business project and the FedEx / Brake Road Safety Academy
- Acknowledgement of programs by Brake, Motor Transport, Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, plus the Prince Michael International Road Safety awards
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