With road traffic accidents predicted to be the world’s fifth-largest cause of death by 2030, reducing fatalities and serious injury on the roads is of paramount importance.

Road traffic safety management (RTS) is a long-term commitment. And the more you invest in it, the more your organization, staff, customers, and the general public will benefit. Many organizations already have policies and procedures in place aimed at reducing occupational road risk, but the implementation of a specific standard in this area should encourage more fleet operators to adopt a comprehensive, focused, and evidence-based approach to reducing road safety risks. In turn, this will benefit society as a whole and all organizations that use the road system, both here and abroad.

BS ISO 39001 helps to identify threats to road traffic safety and reduce risks to make way for better performance and ongoing compliance with industry best practices.

What is BS ISO 39001 road traffic safety management?

BS ISO 39001 standard is designed to help vehicle fleet operators and others such as national governments adopt a structured and holistic approach to managing the risk of death and serious injury from road traffic. The standard sets out a harmonized, best practice method for fleet operators to manage road safety risks.

It provides guidance to help you design your own road traffic safety framework – allowing you to bring all relevant controls and processes into one management system.  The consequences of neglecting road traffic safety can be tragic for those involved, with little required to turn a minor incident into a tragic accident.  

BS ISO 39001 can also be adapted to organizations of all sizes to help them identify threats to road traffic safety and minimize operational risks. The standard is designed to help you implement a best practice framework in your organization – helping you to meet legal, industry, and stakeholder requirements and at the same time reducing your impact on communities and the environment.

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The business benefits of tackling occupational road risk

The evidence clearly shows that the use of generic health and safety management systems – such as, for example, BS EN ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements – can bring business benefits. These include: 

• Potentially lower insurance premiums 

• A robust framework for identifying risks and putting measures in place to mitigate them 

• Helping organizations to target their resources in the most cost-effective way

In addition, experience from around the world shows that large reductions in death and serious injury can be achieved by fleet operators adopting a holistic ‘Safe System’ approach to managing RTS. 

The Safe System approach is set out in the new BS ISO 39001 and recommended by all the main international organizations concerned with road safety. It involves organizations placing a clear and unequivocal focus on RTS results and taking evidence-based actions for the interim and long-term, supported by appropriate management resources. 

The BS ISO 39001 standard provides a common, agreed best practice management framework for tackling road safety risks, both for governments and fleet operators. It complements existing RTS programs and regulations and sets out harmonized and state-of-the-art requirements for managing fleet safety. These are based on international expertise and are applicable to all countries. The standard is based on a process approach to encouraging continuous improvement, proven by successful standards, such as BS EN ISO 9001. 

By adopting the structured, holistic approach set out in BS ISO 39001, organizations should be able to improve their RTS results beyond mere compliance with laws while contributing to society’s wider goal of fewer road injuries and fatalities. The management system specified in BS ISO 39001 is designed to help an organization focus on its RTS objectives and targets and guides the planning of RTS activities. Annex A provides some key guidance on the implementation of the standard, while Annex B describes categories of RTS results, the Safe System approach, and a framework for good practice RTS management and shows how they can be aligned with BS ISO 39001. For fleet operators, for example, BS ISO 39001 helps direct attention to addressing common, system-wide fatal and serious injury risk factors that they can influence. These include addressing areas such as: 

• Safe speeds

• Driver impairment by alcohol, drugs, or fatigue

• Use of appropriate safety equipment, such as seat belts and crash helmets 

• Safe journey planning

To ensure your organization is operating to road traffic safety best practices add standard ISO 39001 to your collection today.

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