Ways to confirm driver’s competence for road safety
In our previous article, we discussed the essential requirements of the driver to meet road safety laws and standards. While the driver’s competence ability is one of those criteria, an organization may wonder how they can check or confirm if their driver is competent enough for the driving job. Today we will be discussing the ways in which employers or organizations can immediately recognize how competent their drivers are before laying out a schedule for them.
1. Driver’s Assessment
One of the best ways to evaluate and analyze diving skills plus attitudes is through direct observation. If you have an on-staff trainer, a supervisor, or an experienced driver that demonstrates the competencies your organization requires, it will be excellent to have them ride along with other drivers. They use the vehicle they drive for work, and in the locations and circumstances, they typically operate. Ensure the assessor provides a report on the driverâs strengths, as well as the skills and behaviors that need improvement.
While some organizations prefer to hire a qualified instructor from a reputable driving school to evaluate drivers. Once you tell them about the driving circumstances in which your employees need to perform, the instructor will conduct a âroad testâ to check those skills. Expect them to provide a report summarizing observations, along with recommendations for training to address skills and behaviors that need improvement.
The essential requirements drivers must meet for road safety law
2. Organise driver’s training
Training schools often have presentations they can readily deliver to drivers. Most are willing to work with clients to customize and deliver specialized training to address unique situations and needs. It is advisable your driver is given the chance to undergo the necessary training as this will help them have knowledge of what is required of them while driving. Driver’s assessments usually identify opportunities for learning and skill improvements. New vehicles, equipment changes, and different routes require that your drivers master new skills and adapt their behaviors to new circumstances. Because time and money are usually tight, itâs in your mutual best interest to use efficient and effective ways to convey necessary information and to confirm new skills are learned and applied. Find the training that works for you.
3. Have an experienced tutor as a mentor to drivers
There is no better way for a newly employed to âlearn the ropesâ, or for a current employee to learn how to operate a different vehicle than to have someone who is experienced show them. Team up the drivers for a few days and let the trainee observe how itâs done, and ask plenty of questions. Later, get the trainee to demonstrate their understanding.
4. Reassess the drivers.
The driving assessment is the first to consider in order to ensure the driver’s competence is confirmed. After all, other criteria are put into check, there’s also a need for continuous reassessment as this helps to ensure the practice of what is required from the drivers. Driving skills are perishable â lessons learned quickly fade away if not applied. Old habits and complacency âcreepâ back in. New technologies, different vehicles, and changed routes present new challenges to drivers accustomed to doing it âthe old wayâ. Regularly re-assess drivers to confirm they continue to perform as you expect.
5. Work with driving tools and Apply Evaluation result
Psychometric tools provide valuable insights and help you understand an individualâs driving attitudes. Such tools typically use a standardized questionnaire to determine personality traits, propensity to take risks, irritability, distractibility, etc. This will enable the organization to determine if the driver falls within the range of what’s required. Also, the need for evaluation from the result is also helpful in order to confirm the driver’s competence. Be prepared for the possibility that an assessment or abstract review might indicate driving performance that is not acceptable to your organization. Perhaps your employee accumulated 9 penalty points in the last year, and some of them were on company time. Perhaps an evaluation shows aggressive driving attitudes that simply arenât part of the image your company wants.
All this will help the company to determine quickly what action will be taken.
