The cost of accidents

According to the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec, nearly 40% of collisions occur in winter. By focusing on prevention, you could avoid the expenses caused by a damaged vehicle in terms of productivity and profitability.

On top of a possible increase in the insurance premium for your vehicle fleet, you might have to absorb other costs as well:

• Insurance deductible for the damaged vehicle
• Removal of the vehicle from the fleet
• Salary paid to the injured employee during the wait period for SAAQ and CNESST benefits and the salary to pay a replacement

Costs can be indirect as well:

• Delivery delays
• Service reductions
• Client dissatisfaction

Set up an accident prevention program

The program should include:

• Proper preparation of vehicles for winter. In addition to installing winter tires (required in Quebec), have brakes, windshield wipers and batteries systematically checked before the first snowfall.
• Driver monitoring. Your program should determine driver selection criteria, offer ongoing training, allow periodic driver’s license checks (with the SAAQ’s business services) and include drug and alcohol monitoring.
• Reminders of the importance of adjusting driving for winter conditions and education about visibility issues, including complete clearing of windows, and tire grip depending on road characteristics.
• Trip planning advice, using tools like Google Maps, The Weather Network and Québec 511 for road conditions.
• Access to GPS and a hands-free mobile phone-particularly useful for employees who are on the road a lot.
• Access, in commercial vehicles, to equipment like shovels, snow brushes and scrapers, booster cables, anti-skid plates and an emergency kit.
• A policy and measures put in writing, circulated and signed by all parties involved.
• Analysis of incidents to prevent them from happening again.

Reward good driving

To get employee buy-in, why not create a rewards program (e.g., for a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents) to go along with your policy? Managing the risk for winter accidents is everybody’s business, and can prevent a lot of personal problems for your employees and financial implications for your business.

You can also get tips on how to prepare your company for winter.