Driver risk assessment, monitoring and improvement for at-work drivers in Latin America

Governments and organisations around the globe are increasingly recognising that ‘driving for work purposes’ is one of the most risky activities most workers undertake on a day to day basis. 

This is important for a number of societal, business, legal and financial reasons, which has led to an increasing amount of research, policy development and organisational practice. Work-related road safety initiatives are typically led through fleet or transport management and occupational safety and health – taking a risk assessment led approach. 

Interactive Driving Systems has worked with a range of academic, governmental and business organisations around the world for more than 20 years to research, develop, validate and evaluate effective programs for the assessment, monitoring and improvement of at work drivers, to assist organisations to build an effective road safety culture into their operating DNA. Such organisational programs can then act as a conduit for road safety in the wider community. 

In Latin America, where awareness of the full extent of the work-related road safety risk is emerging, and a particularly significant number of journeys involve travel either to or for work, we are involved in an increasing number of driver risk assessment, monitoring and improvement programs with organisations such as Zurich, Nestlé, Cummins and Pfizer. 

After setting the context regarding the importance of work-related road safety in Latin America, the paper presents details of several case studies of successful driver risk assessment, monitoring and improvement programs, including a detailed case on one organisation whose commitment, leadership, tools and processes led to a 25% reduction in collisions and costs in six months. 

General recommendations are also made for research, policy and practice in work-related road safety in Latin America.