Fleet safety award

Among the awards presented at the 2009 Australasian Fleet Managers Association (AfMA) awards night on 17 September 2009 was the Fleet Safety Award, won by the South Australian government's Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI).

As a lead agency responsible for road safety in South Australia, the department considered that it should be leading best practice in fleet safety. The department developed a formal ‘light vehicle purchasing policy’ and procedure mandating a number of key vehicle safety features and desirable criteria for both active and passive vehicle safety features.

The introduction of this policy ensured a more rigorous, safety-focused approach to light vehicle leasing across the department, improving the safety of work-related driving. The result is that no ‘loss of control’ crashes have occurred with any new vehicles purchased. In other comparisons, crash reductions of up to 19%, as well as a 100% reduction in employee compensation claims due to a vehicle crash injury, have been recorded.

The other awards presented at the event were Fleet Manager of the Year Award and Fleet Environment Award. Each award is judged by a separate panel of peers made up of AfMA members and industry experts. Only initiatives that are over and above what one could expect as normal professional practice are accepted for consideration for an award.

AfMA’s membership is across all industries and the three levels of government throughout Australia and New Zealand, and responsible for the management of approximately 800,000 fleet vehicles.