| I find the direction that truck driving, hauling and | | | | and email about an event. She has been told that |
| product delivery is going very interesting. This is a | | | | each employee involved in an event must be |
| group of companies like Pepsi, Frito Lay, Kraft, | | | | coached within 3 days. Now let's suppose that she |
| Eddy's Ice Cream, Schwan's, Ecolab, and others | | | | has 14 drivers and today she receives a total of |
| that are engaged in the local delivery of products | | | | 4 event reports. Where will she find the time to |
| of services. | | | | talk with or coach these drivers? And now the |
| At one moment they have employees who are | | | | next day she gets 2 more event reports. Are her |
| professional drivers, and the next they are | | | | drivers really that bad? Sometimes they are, but |
| engaged in physical delivery of products or | | | | not always. |
| services. The work involves driving through city | | | | With most of the devices in use, the drivers |
| traffic all day long, and making dozens of stops to | | | | know immediately when an event is recorded, so |
| deliver goods. It's physically demanding work. | | | | they are waiting for the call from their supervisor. |
| Needless to say, crashes and physical injuries are | | | | The drivers already know that they will have to |
| common. | | | | sit down with the supervisor and discuss the |
| Lately, some of these delivery companies have | | | | situation that set off the device. They brace for, |
| been approached by organizations selling | | | | "What were you doing wrong?", "Slow down and |
| technology that monitors the driving performance | | | | don't follow so closely!", "One more event and |
| of the delivery drivers. These on-board devices | | | | you're out of here!" |
| range in complexity, usually recording rapid vehicle | | | | I think you see the trend. Not only are the events |
| movements like sharp turns or hard stops and | | | | in and of themselves negative, but the |
| sending the data via cell technology to data | | | | interactions and their repeat nature are negative |
| centers for processing. Some of these technology | | | | as well. Automated near-miss reporting can be |
| companies even uses video to capture incidents | | | | very good, but how do you factor in the |
| for coaching. I must admit that this is great | | | | "catching you doing something right" situations. It |
| information and is quite accurate in capturing | | | | can't be all bad if we want to engage the drivers |
| near-miss events (and a few crashes as well). | | | | and get them to change for the better! |
| Occasionally, the video clips show the lack of seat | | | | There are many factors needed in order for |
| belts and cell phone usage. It's great information | | | | near-miss reporting to be effective. Included are: |
| for behavior change coaching. I call it "Automated | | | | a willingness by the organization to learn from its |
| Near-Miss Reporting". | | | | mistakes, open and honest communication |
| The more I have learned about these systems, | | | | between workers and supervisors, the removal |
| the more I see their value. However, I also see | | | | of fear of reprisal for reporting, positive |
| them being used inappropriately. Rather than used | | | | motivation to report near-miss situations, and |
| to find drivers who need to improve their driving | | | | positive actions taken immediately to eliminate the |
| habits and providing coaching toward that end, | | | | problems reported. |
| some companies use the technology primarily to | | | | It will be very interesting to see how these |
| weed out bad apples. | | | | technology companies and their systems develop |
| Okay, I'll be the first to say that some bad apple | | | | over the coming years. I'll bet that the technology |
| weeding may be necessary. But, since these | | | | company that figures out how to help their clients |
| systems are usually catching events that involve | | | | improve their overall safety culture, while using |
| something that's wrong, they can't be used very | | | | their devices will be the big winner. And the direct |
| effectively for positive motivation. What about all | | | | delivery companies who effectively incorporate |
| the good things done all day long, and over | | | | onboard technology and develop sustainable |
| thousands of miles driven? How are they | | | | safety cultures will reap big rewards through |
| reported and rewarded? | | | | decreased costs, driver retention and improved |
| Then, imagine being a supervisor who receives | | | | profitability. |