Surprising as it may sound, high speed isn’t the primary cause of common on-site accidents. Inversely, many on-site accidents occur due to drivers hitting other vehicles or pedestrians being hit by reversing vehicles. It shouldn’t be this way though.
Here are tips to help control on-site traffic and by extension, help avoid accidents.
Assess Workplace Transport Risk
Most workplaces use generic strategies to assess transport risks.
Walk into most workplaces and you’re likely to find written rules detailing how vehicles should operate in a particular area such as the loading bay.
While there’s nothing wrong with having generic traffic rules at the workplace, it makes perfect sense to have variants that cover each part of the operation and for cars of different sizes.
Establish and Enforce Speed Limits
Sure, high speed isn’t the number one cause of accidents in most workplaces. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have specific rules stipulating how fast a car should drive once it is within the premises.
Erect signs that indicate the speed restrictions, travel directions and pathways vehicles should follow.
Establish Designated Parking
Vehicles will always cause accidents if on-site parking isn’t organised. That is especially true if you have many vehicles coming in and out of the organisation’s parking lot.
You should, therefore, have designated parking bays for the company and private vehicles. On top of that, organisations should restrict loading yards and other related areas.
Put in Measures to Reduce Vehicle Reversing
Remember when we mentioned reversing vehicles being one of the leading causes of on-site accidents? Well, the easiest way to avoid reversing related accidents is to provide traffic routes or one-way systems. Also, companies should consider marking designated reversing areas.
And if a driver has to reverse, make sure that they have excellent all-round visibility before moving the car. If possible, there should be a second person to direct the driver. What’s more, company vehicles can also be fitted with reversing alarms for extra protection.
Designate and Train Parking Lot Personnel
You won’t always find trained personnel at a company’s parking lot. But, if that’s what it takes to avoid on-site accidents, why not?
Companies can enrol such personnel in a traffic control course to help equip them with the necessary skills to control vehicles.
Traffic control training will ensure that vehicles coming into the parking lot or loading bay are directed appropriately.
It is important to mention that organisations seeking to leverage this strategy should only work with reputable and professional trainers. Further, you need to ensure the trained personnel get a traffic control license.
Global Training Services Pty Ltd is a leading traffic control training provider for companies looking to minimise on-site accidents. And, as you’d expect, trained staff get a traffic control license after the course.