Case Study
Esitu Solutions enables Specflue to Reduce Collisions, Driver Errors, and Insurance Costs.
About
With over 30 years’ experience Specflue are leaders in the supply of prefabricated chimney and flue systems in the UK. They attribute their success to following their guiding principles of innovation, quality products and outstanding customer service.
Based in Sudbury, Suffolk, with depots in Honiton in Devon, Castleford in West Yorkshire and Stirling in Scotland, Specflue are able to service almost the whole of the UK with their own fleet of vehicles.
The Challenge
Specflue noticed an increase in minor collisions across their fleet of 3.5 tonne vans, particularly involving side mirrors and light clusters. While these damages were relatively inexpensive to repair in house, they were becoming increasingly time consuming and impacting operational costs.
Having identified this as an issue, Specflue needed a solution that could help identify risk within their drivers and reduce the frequency of these incidents.
“I had noticed that a few simple and niggling mistakes were being made by a small minority of my drivers. I wanted to try and understand what was happening and why,” says Stuart Wilkinson (Operations Director).
“I fully believe that it is our drivers and the service that they provide to our customers, which makes us stand out within our industry. We wanted to maintain this advantage by investing in quality training programs that would be of benefit to our logistics team and help identify any additional training needs,” said Wilkinson.
Specflue fleet operations across the UK
The Approach
Specflue recognised the need to identify driver risk while also providing training to mitigate that risk.
“I went to an industry-related event specifically to investigate if there was a suitable training program that could assist me, not just in reducing our on-road incidents but to help me and my drivers understand why they were happening.”
Specflue were introduced to Esitu Solutions and were immediately drawn to the evidence based approach to road safety.
“I spotted Esitu’s stand and was introduced to their Hazard Prediction and Perception techniques. I was immediately impressed with Esitu’s enthusiasm and industry knowledge behind the understanding of drivers’ behaviours and the use of technical data to support the training modules. The modules are also delivered in an interactive and fun-to-do style. There was even an option to run their training programs via virtual reality headsets.”
Implementation
Esitu Solutions provided an online assessment and training solution through its platform, EsituDrive.
Drivers complete modules online and track their own performance through individual dashboards, while managers are able to monitor results in real time across individuals, depots and the wider fleet.
This provides full visibility of driver risk and enables targeted intervention where required.
“Being the Companies O licence holder, I have found the results and the format in which they are presented an invaluable tool to help identify those drivers with a particular driving ‘style’ who may need additional training as part of our proactive approach to risk management.”
Outcomes and Impact
Expanded training across the organisation
Specflue extended the training beyond their commercial fleet to all staff who drive for company business and embedded it into new starter induction.
“My initial thoughts had been for our Commercial fleet drivers to undergo this training however, we decided to roll this program out to all employees who drive on behalf of Specflue regardless of driving frequency. We have now adopted Esitu’s training modules for all new starter employees as part of our staff induction program.”
Improved safety culture and engagement
The training prompted discussion and improved retention and application of learning.
“Everyone really enjoyed the process and the challenges it brought. It certainly prompted discussions within individual groups of users resulting with the information being retained and, more importantly, being put into practice whilst driving.”
Reduction in collisions and driver errors
Specflue have seen a clear reduction in minor incidents and driver errors.
“Those small damages and the simple errors being made have now become so insignificant that I genuinely cannot recollect the last time we had any to report.”
Reduced insurance costs
The proactive approach to risk management also contributed to a reduction in insurance premiums.
“Having shared our plans for adopting Esitu’s hazard prediction and perception techniques with our insurance broker when negotiating our policy renewal, the underwriters commented on our positive approach to risk management. As such there was a small rate reduction on the policy. This reduction more than covered the cost for the Esitu training program.”
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