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What all companies should know about DOT's new truck and bus safety program
By Rose McMurray
Senior Transportation Advisor
FDRsafety
If you work at a trucking company or bus company it's pretty obvious why you should pay attention to new DOT safety programs. But why would companies outside of those fields be interested?
Simple. Do you want your goods hauled or your people transported by a company with a poor safety record?
What's more, if you use trucks or buses in your business, you, too, are subject to the rules.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's new Compliance, Safety, Accountability initiative - CSA for short - gives you the opportunity to check the safety record of any motor carrier you use for shipping or transporting people, or your own if you use trucks in your business.
Simply put, CSA allows the government to see a much broader safety picture of a motor carrier and its drivers. By analyzing a company's inspection and crash information more thoroughly, government overseers can probe deeper into the safety performance of companies and measure them on a broader set of risk factors.
The government hopes that this increased transparency will improve highway safety. While many trucking and bus companies have long had excellent safety programs, CSA will encourage others to follow suit. After all they want to retain the business of safety-conscious customers and keep on the good side of the insurance companies.
It is also important to note that CSA applies not only to trucking companies, but to any company that uses trucks in its business. Operations and H-R folks at those companies would be well-advised to be fully educated about CSA as well. More information is available at the CSA website.
Rose McMurray is former Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and oversaw the startup of CSA. Contact Rose at 615-370-1730 or rmcmurrary@fdrsafety.com.
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For motor carriers: Five tips for CSA success
By Rose McMurray
Chief Safety Advisor
FDRsafety
As former Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, I led the startup of CSA, overseeing its design and implementation. From that vantage point, it became clear that there were five key steps companies could take to achieve satisfactory CSA scores.
Naturally, the most important reason for a company to operate its trucks or motor coaches safely is to protect the driving public, passengers and their own employees. But there are other implications as well: unsatisfactory scores can increase insurance premiums and result in lost business. In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is using the scores to prioritize its enforcement actions. Companies with low scores will be targeted.
Following are five tips for succeeding under CSA - short for Compliance, Safety, Accountability. For more detail on how to execute on these five suggestions, see a full-length CSA article I have written that is posted on the FDRsafety website.
Guideposts for success- Make safety a core, non-negotiable value of your company.
This doesn't mean merely posting a sign in the workplace that "safety is important in our company." It is communicated by the way the company is managed, the behavior and attitude of company officials and the actions management takes when a safety violation occurs - Get educated on CSA and explain it clearly to your employees.
Ensure that drivers, maintenance shop staff, trainers, executives, etc. understand CSA and its impact on the company's bottom line and how each of them contribute to the scores earned by the company. - Examine the data maintained by the government that underpin your CSA scores and ensure the data is accurate.
Aggressively pursue data correction through the DOT DataQ's process and get your record correct. Ensure your registration data (MCS-150) information is updated. - Implement specific, competent countermeasures to address your safety deficiencies.
If any of your measures exceed the "alert" threshold, put into place known effective measures that correct the reasons your company is receiving violations. - Recruit, train and vigorously monitor drivers.
Driver performance is a backbone of the CSA system since violations in the three driver categories (Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving and Crash History) are given added emphasis in the measurement calculations.
Rose McMurrary, Senior Transportation Advisor for FDRsafety, retired earlier this year as Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. She now consults with companies on improving their CSA scores and other transportation safety issues. Rose can be contacted at 615-370-1730 or rmcmurray@fdrsafety.com. For more information about our transportation safety program click here.
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Learn how to investigate accidents effectively
Too often accident reports recommend corrective actions that target "employee behavior." Certainly, employee behavior is part of the overall picture but it is only one piece of the puzzle. If your accident investigation does not get to the real root causes, it is a fair bet that the same accident will occur again - it is only a question of when, where and to whom.
However, it takes knowledge and practice to do root cause investigations properly.
For those in West Virginia or nearby states, you might wish to learn more in a one-day session on June 29 in Charleston. We'll cover all aspects of accident investigation including understanding hazards and risk, securing the scene, gathering and analyzing information, writing the report and follow-up. Click here for more information or to register.
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Need to fill a full-time safety job? We can help
FDRsafety has recently expanded its services in assisting companies recruit full-time safety professionals.
Using our wide network of qualified safety professionals, we can help you quickly and efficiently fill a position.
See our recruiting page, which includes information for companies who are seeking to fill a position as well as candidates looking for an opening.
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info@FDRsafety.com Our services include:Training OSHA compliance consultation Temporary Safety Staffing Recruiting and PlacementTransportation SafetyExpert witnessesMotivational speakers
ABOUT FDRsafetyAt the heart of FDRsafety is this simple idea: Extensive expertise and experience bring the best results. FDRsafety is led by two nationally recognized, long-time leaders in safety: Fred Rine and Jim Stanley. Each has decades of experience improving occupational safety and health performance at companies of all sizes, including complex multi-billion dollar, multinational organizations. FDRsafety can meet your needs for a wide range of safety and health services, including training, OSHA compliance, safety staffing and expert witnesses. Contact us to learn how we can help you reduce accidents, meet federal, state and local legal requirements, reduce costs, and most importantly, protect your greatest assets - your employees.
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