Case Study - General Motors UK Ltd

Profile

Company Name: General Motors UK Ltd
Business Sector: Automotive
Postal Address: Griffin House, Osborne Road, Luton, Beds
Postcode: LU1 3YT
Fleet Size Overall: 6,000 vehicles
Company Cars: 600
Private vehicles used for business purposes: NIL

Company Overview

General Motors (GM) operates a number of companies in the UK and Ireland including Vauxhall, Opel Ireland, Saab GB, Cadillac, Corvette, HUMMER, GMM Luton and GMM Ellesmere Port, all wholly owned subsidiaries of GM, as well as Chevrolet UK (41% owned).   

Vauxhall celebrated its centenary in 2003, having built its first car in the Vauxhall district of south London in 1903. The company moved to Luton, Bedfordshire in 1905 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It now has two main bases, Luton and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. General Motors celebrated its centenary in 2008 on September 16th.

GM has two manufacturing plants in the UK. GM Manufacturing Luton produces the Vivaro medium sized van for sale under the Vauxhall, Opel, Nissan and Renault brands.  GM Manufacturing Ellesmere Port is one of Europe’s most modern car plants and produces the 5-door Astra and Astravan for Vauxhall and Opel and this year commences production for New Astra.

Today, GMUK & I is maintaining a good performance in a challenging market environment.  The new Insignia is performing extremely well and is already in the Top 10 most popular cars in the UK, along with permanent residents Corsa, Zafira and Astra.  In 2009 Chevrolet launch the long awaited Cruze and the New Astra will appear in late autumn.

Nature of Operation and Driving Activities

GMUK Ltd is a manufacturer of quality motor cars and commercial vehicles and has an extensive sales and marketing operation driven by regional field based personnel and a wide approved retailer network.   The Company has 600 dedicated business drivers who work in a range of sectors from fleet to retail, corporate to B2B, customer care to aftersales activities.  Our drivers do an average of 20 -25,000 business miles per year and often have clearly defined territories.  Driving activities are normally restricted to Monday to Friday.  In addition, GM organise and run various driving related events in the calendar year (Motorshow, VXR Track days) which are subject to the stringent rules as laid out in the GM Safe Driving Programme.

Organisational Structure

The Board of GM UK Ltd is committed to the Health and Safety Policy issued by the General Motors Automotive Strategy Board (and endorsed by the management of the European Operations of General Motors) which states:

We are committed to protecting the health and safety of each employee as the overriding priority of this Corporation. There will be no compromise of any individual's well-being in anything we do. The implementation of actions to help our employees realize a healthy, injury-free environment is a leadership responsibility. Continuing support of this effort is the responsibility of everyone. We will lead the General Motors team to ensure that we protect the well-being of every member.

It is recognised that Health and Safety is an important part of GM UK’s Human Resource Management policy and can have a significant effect on GM UK’s performance. The Board also fully acknowledges GM UK's legal responsibilities concerning Health and Safety. The Board intends the Policy to apply equally to the employees and activities of all associated organisations (including joint ventures) where conditions are based on those at GM UK and/or for which GM UK has administrative responsibility.

The Board endorses the well-established six-part Health and Safety Policy structure which provides details of, or reference to, detailed Health and Safety policies and procedures applicable to all those working in or from GM UK sites, working elsewhere such that a GM UK site is their departmental base or visiting a GM UK site, in connection with GM UK-related activities.   To this end GM employs full time Health and Safety Managers along with a wide network of workplace reps to ensure that there is an effective escalation process for all accidents and near misses.  There are regular weekly safety patrols and monthly committees which review all accidents in detail.

General Motors UK is totally committed to emphasising the need for considering Safety in all driving related activities and to enforcing the Safe Driving policy at all times. This is assisted by the Company's commitment to incorporating Safety into its products. The amount of driving involved in the business makes this a significantly important part of the overall Health and Safety strategy.

At this time the Company H&S Policy and the Safe Driving Policy are separate entities from a line of control perspective and whilst GM UK places equal importance on both, there is scope for increased integration of the two distinct areas of work related risk.  Currently work related road safety issues are handled solely by Company Vehicle Operations whilst the more traditional risk focus areas (eg. factory floor, office) are managed by the Health & Safety department.  Driving related risk is a regular agenda item on the Corporate H&S meeting and monthly collisions are reported to the committee, which helps position these “accidents” as part of the wider picture.

Work related Road Safety Policy and Procedures

The GMUK Safe Driving Programme has been developed in order to:

  • Take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers and the public with regard to vehicles used on Company business
  • Record the Company's commitment to emphasising the application of the best safety practices in activities involving driving and vehicle management
  • Ensure that Company employees and contractors are mindful of vehicle safety at all times
  • Extend this policy to all users of vehicles administered by the Company and to their families, as far as is practicable and reasonable
  • Ensure that GM UK Fleet Management  and any other relevant vehicle supply or administration organisations are involved in the Company's safety policies
  • Ensure that the companies involved meet all GM Corporation and GME requirements concerning safe driving, wherever reasonable.

Safe Driving has always been a very important part of the GM UK Health and Safety Policy, which follows the Corporation commitment to make the health and safety of each employee the overriding priority of the Corporation. The other companies that share this Programme place equal importance on this. While the Safe Driving Programme should extend to families and others driving vehicles associated with the Company, it is particularly important that those driving on Company business take all possible, reasonable care for the safety of themselves, their passengers and other road users.

The GM UK Safe Driving Team has worked closely with key stakeholders including its Managing Director, Fleet Insurer, Trades Unions and Board Directors to develop a robust and best practice model for managing and monitoring road safety related risk.  It is aimed at reducing the collision rate of the fleet, reducing the risk of harm, meeting all relevant legislation, meeting its corporate social responsibility and reducing the direct cost associated with motor collisions.

Fleet Safety initiatives that GM UK has introduced in the last 5 years include:

  • A revised and comprehensive Safe Driving Policy
  • Driver Handbook, which includes detailed safe driving and insurance information
  • An in depth Fleet Safety audit carried out by our Insurer; to identify improvement areas
  • Minimum driving age of 22 years, awareness training for employees below this age
  • Communications strategy which includes regular driver newsletters, e-mail reminders on key issues like mobile phone use, long distance driving, road safety awareness posters; Safe Driving pamphlet endorsed by the Managing Director
  • Work related road risk assessments for all employees who regularly drive on business
  • Follow up 1:1 in vehicle/classroom training for drivers where a specific risk was identified from the risk assessments
  • On-Line training programme for business drivers using interactive modules, rolled out at regular intervals; plans to make a similar programme available to all GM Car Plan drivers, irrespective of whether they drive as part of their work
  • No Licence, No Car policy – zero tolerance; employees not allowed to collect a vehicle without showing Licence at each collection
  • DVLA Licence Checks on annual basis; random testing – minimum 20% of total Fleet
  • Alcohol and drugs policy; agreed rules for corporate events; hospitality guidelines
  • Quarterly reporting of Insurance claims statistics and related issues to all parts of the business (employee groups, Trades Unions, Executive steering group)
  • Monthly review of all business accidents at the Central Health & Safety Committee meeting
  • In-depth analysis of all collisions to identify causes and trends; used to dx`evelop appropriate counter measures and to act quickly
  • Post Collision investigation process for all accidents which occur on business which includes a full review of each accident between driver and line Manager to identify the root cause and agree measure to prevent reoccurrence
  • Driver Workshops for specific risk groups; young drivers; collision history; speeding convictions
  • UK Familiarisation training for all overseas personnel; employee & partner (if appropriate) must complete prior to receiving a vehicle in the UK

Work related Road Safety Guidance for Drivers

A comprehensive and up to date Safe Driving Policy is essential but just as important, if not more, is the continued focus on all areas of road risk, and ongoing communication to drivers, using as many methods as possible.    Improved driver awareness is seen as critical and in acknowledgement of the importance of road safety risk , most  communications are either sent in the name of, or endorsed by, the Managing Director.  GM understands the need for guidance to be regular and targeted and where possible to use real life examples to support the principles being shared eg. serious or costly collision details shared with other drivers to prevent re-occurrence. 

The key measures adopted at GM UK are:

  • A detailed Driver Handbook which all drivers (business and private use) receive.  This contains amongst other things:-
    • Safe Driving Policy
    • Useful Contact numbers – Insurance, AA, Windscreen/Tyre providers
    • Safety tips
    • Service & repair guidance
    • Roadside assistance
    • Insurance policy information, including excess rules, age restrictions etc
    • What to do in the event of an accident
    • Section on driver fatigue
    • Company rules on mobile phone use
    • Foreign Travel rules
  • Integrated Communications strategy:-
    • Quarterly Driver Bulletin, with safe driving articles, repeat messages, insurance trends and statistics
    • E-mail reminders on key issues (eg.mobile phone use, fatigue, defensive driving)
    • Safe Driving pamphlet to all drivers, on-line and hard copy, endorsed by the MD
    • Road Safety awareness posters in Fleet Management Centres
    • Plan to advertise best practice advice on our web site
    • Plan to issue an ergonomic ‘How to sit safely’ laminated card to all drivers
  • On-Line training programme (provided by Interactive Driving Systems) for business drivers using interactive modules, rolled out at regular intervals; plans to make a similar programme available to all GM Car Plan drivers, irrespective of whether they drive as part of their work.  Areas covered include:
    • Driver Behaviour
    • Defensive Driving
    • Hazard perception
    • Highway Code regulations
    • Driving skills for different road types eg. motorway, urban, country
  • Driver Workshops for specific risk groups; young drivers; post collision; speeding convictions – for groups and 1:1, where required, and provided in conjunction with an external partner (Drivetech) through classroom and in vehicle training.  Aimed at preventing re-occurrence and/or preparing new drivers for potential risks they may face when driving on work related journeys
  • UK Familiarisation training for all overseas personnel; employee & partner (if appropriate) must complete prior to receiving a vehicle in the UK -  mixes classroom and in vehicle training to ensure that the overseas employee is conversant with the key aspects of driving in the UK; emphasises the need to take a UK driving test after 12 continuous months of residency in the UK (if visitor is from outside the EU)

Specific examples of procedures

General Motors UK has always made the Health & Safety of its employees an overriding priority and its rigorous safety culture has been reflected throughout all of its operations.  However, it was not until the late1990’s that it became aware of a need to include driving activities in its wider workplace safety strategy.  The examples below demonstrate some of the key factors which have led to a change in approach to work related driving activity and the management of road risk:

  • In-depth analysis of all collisions to identify causes and trends; used to develop appropriate counter measures and to act quickly – the fresh approach to managing claims meant that a belief developed that collisions could be both measured and therefore managed. This has meant a close relationship between GM UK and its motor Insurer, Zurich Global, and this is fundamental to the success of the process
    • One of the early effects of this new approach was to identify that young drivers represented 6% of the Fleet population but accounted for 30% of the annual claims cost.  As a result a minimum driving age of 22 years was introduced, along with awareness training for employees below this age
  • Support from the top – securing the MD as a Champion for Safe Driving was critical in ensuring that the business took the issues seriously and helped ease the resistance and roadblocks which arose to the new strategy.  Without such support a fully integrated and successful Road Safety strategy will be much more difficult to implement.
  • Involvement of key stakeholders - along with the MD all appropriate parties ( employee groups, Trades Unions, Executive steering group, Board) were deliberately involved in decision making on risk initiatives, insurance changes etc – this ensured that any measures adopted both reflected a wide range of views and were more straightforward to introduce
  • Work related road risk assessments - on-line programme, replacing the traditional half day in-vehicle training, and designed to identify specific risk areas.  Looks at a driver’s road knowledge, attitude,behaviour and hazard recognition.  Rolled out to all employees who regularly drive on business – targeted intervention for drivers who demonstrated a particular risk.  An additional benefit is that the on-line risk programme is more cost effective than the traditional training as it only identifies ‘at risk’ drivers for additional in-vehicle activity
  • Zero tolerance on Driving Licences & DVLA Licence Checks -  Driver must show Licence on collection of each new vehicle or they are not allowed to take car; in addition on an annual basis  random testing is carried out through DVLA – minimum 20% of total Fleet
  • Post Collision investigation process -  mandatory for all collisions/near misses which occur on business to be reviewed in full between the driver and their line Manager.  Designed to identify the root causes and agree measures to prevent reoccurrence.  Helps make the process transparent and brings accountability at departmental level.  Also identifies any training needs which might be required

Auditing and review

It is essential to maintain a continuous focus on Safe Driving issues and General Motors UK meets with its Insurer and Risk service providers on a regular basis, at least quarterly.  Current claims performance and collision trends are reviewed and new training/awareness ideas are developed.  Repetition of the same key messages, often in different formats, is important in winning the hearts and minds of the driver population.

Zurich undertook a full Fleet safety Audit in 2006 (results below) and another audit is planned for 2010.  

In 2006 GM UK was above average in terms of its Fleet Safety Policy, legal compliance, vehicle and claims management but short of the benchmark in certain area including risk assessments, organisational culture and driver training.

The audit formed the basis of the initiatives that have been introduced over the last 3 years eg. on-line driving assessment programme designed to enable the identification of potentially ‘at risk’ drivers, targeted training where appropriate, slow but steady change in culture from top of the organization down.

In addition, GM UK has participated in best sharing meetings with some of its customers, in order to help them improve the safety performance of their Fleet.  It is anticipated that such measures will continue to be explored.

Performance measures/Accident reduction

GM UK uses a variety of ways to review and measure ongoing performance.  The most important of these are:

  • Quarterly review meetings with the Insurer Zurich Global  looking at all collision statistics for the previous 3 month period;  focus on trend analysis, claim cause, type of collision, driver age, high cost claims etc.
  • KPI’s for claims level, cost of claims, reporting period, ULR recovery, post collision reporting
  • Ongoing driver risk assessments to identify specific risk areas and improvement needs
  • Monthly review of business collisions at the Central Health & Safety Committee - the chart below illustrates GM UK’s performance improvement over the last few years

Financial and other benefits

The financial savings clearly speak for themselves and the overview of the period 2005 to 2009 demonstrates this:

  • 20% reduction in premium
  • 54% reduction in own-damage costs

The premium reduction had a significant impact on the bottom line and definitely helped provide impetus for further safety initiatives and a renewed commitment to work related road safety.  Additional benefits from investing in the fleet safety programme include:

  • Improved Safety Culture – helping to make employees safer
  • Positive PR from articles in Fleet News, presentation at national road risk conference
  • Reduction in number of collisions
  • Increase awareness of Risk
  • Reduced absenteeism

Lessons learned

GM UK has identified that work related driving is a significant risk to its employees and over the last 5 years it has joined the more traditional focus areas, like factory floor, in receiving the appropriate amount of time and investment.  Furthermore, it is recognized and communicated to a wider audience that for most UK citizens driving is the largest risk they face on a daily basis.

GM UK is clear that its Safe Driving Programme should extend not only to those driving on Company business but also  to families and others driving vehicles associated with the Company and that the safety of other road users and pedestrians is paramount.  Since the introduction of an integrated fleet safety strategy there has been a reduction in collisions, a reduced annual premium and a heightened awareness of the risks and hazards present on the UK roads.

The involvement of key stakeholders has been critical, not least the support and input of our Managing Director and Trades Unions.  Without their support  the initiatives we have implemented would not have had the same impact and many would have been unachievable. 

It is hoped that continuing interest and investment will maintain the progress that has been made and it is crucial that continual focus is given to this area to prevent apathy setting in.

Current and future developments

GM UK intends to maintain its current range of initiatives (eg. risk assessments, driver training, regular communications)  but is always seeking to improve risk reduction and the safety of its employees.  To this end we meet regularly with our Insurer to identify current risks and to develop new initiatives.  Amongst these are:

  • Comprehensive Fleet Audit in 2010, to follow 2006 Audit
  • Compulsory eye-sight testing for all drivers
  • On-Line training programme for families of drivers
  • Best practice sharing with customers/suppliers

For further information, contact:

Simon Monk
Company Vehicle Operations
GM UK Fleet
Tel: 01582 427362
Fax: 01582 426200
e-mail: simon.monk@gm.com
 

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