Hi 

I have been concerned with the distractions in our staff vehicles for some time  , PDA, mobile phone etc.

How do fellow members enforce their staff not to use phones etc whilst driving ..would be really intrested in what wording you use or any other iniatives you may have done in the past.

Thanks in advance 

One thing you can do is make it an absolute policy that you do not try to contact employees when they are on the move, ever. Similarly you should not expect employees who are in the move to get back to you, straight way. If you want to communicate they must pull over. This is difficult nowadays because there is an expectation that staff are always contactable and going off grid is regarded as intrinsically suspicious.

I keep the phones on, but in the car boot. I can hear them ring and can choose if to pull over somewhere safe or if close to my destination wait. (the call could negate a long journey etc so may be worth pulling over when safe). If in the boot, there is no question if there was an accident or being stopped, that I could not possibly be on the phone.

People not phoning you when travelling is not practical, as you don't tell everyone in the company or those outside, your about to go on a car journey.

Chris

Had a line in our policy for all employees to follow:

When calling a mobile number start the call by announcing yourself and asking if the other party is free to talk - this gives them the opportunity to consider if it is convenient to respond or reply with a "can I call you back"

As mentioned too much emphasis is placed upon constant contact invariably meaning the caller has got well in to their planned narrative before the recipient is forced to appear rude cutting them off mid-conversation.

This was in our general arrangements as people could be otherwise be indisposed and not just driving

It is about what is safest and reducing to reasonably praticable and for me this is switching off phones prior to the journey starting. I look at these posting and all of us go on about safety but take a mobile phone away and people can't cope. If it was any other task that could have such a poor outcome, if I said I am going to introduce a task were the outcome could posssibly multiple deaths there would be loads of advice about barriers, training, robust policies, supervision, sometimes we need to stand up and be counted and have zero tolerence when safety of ourselves and others is a major issue.

What are the implications for killing someone for thier family and you and yours. We have people on here who will send pohotographs of dangerous practices, normally working at height, none of people using phones when driving and harping on how they always approach workers who are working unsafe as they are a risk to thenselves and others and how the IOSH code of practice expects this but takeaway a phone for a couple of hours and the world stops. Tuen it on when you stop and your wife will still be able to tell you what loaf to get.

We can debate this every which way but at the end of the day it comes down to a single consideration - what does the person signing the company H&S Policy statement think?

If they are wholly against such distractions then a working policy will be put in place, driven top down and enforced

If they feel they need to be able to ring senior management at any time you get the provision of hands free kit / connected cars and the wooly situation which puts the decision about the call in the hands of the driver

And its not only the in car problems with laptops, tablets and email eroding what should be "rest time" for the following days work

Still searching for the enlightened company that insist the mobile etc. are switched off between cocking off and clocking on

Originally Posted by: Roundtuit

We can debate this every which way but at the end of the day it comes down to a single consideration - what does the person signing the company H&S Policy statement think?

If they are wholly against such distractions then a working policy will be put in place, driven top down and enforced

If they feel they need to be able to ring senior management at any time you get the provision of hands free kit / connected cars and the wooly situation which puts the decision about the call in the hands of the driver

And its not only the in car problems with laptops, tablets and email eroding what should be "rest time" for the following days work

Still searching for the enlightened company that insist the mobile etc. are switched off between cocking off and clocking on

I have been with this company 18 months and even when I put my phone back on at 8 in the morning very rarely is there a message or e-mail, people are encourage to only work during core times and that is 8-5, we do have people on call but even then very rare you will be disturbed. The thing is that you are not allowed to take lap top home and are encouraged no phone when you are not working.

I finshed with a company and was surprised when I asked about taking my lap top own and the CEO laughed and asked why I would do that.

Even in the prison I never took my lap top home and my phone never moves from the car.

It doesn't half make for a relaxed evening and weekend, these companies who talk about work life balance should really consider what they mean.

Hi mes ami/es

The way to go?

The folllowing may be law soon here in la belle France. I believe it has a good chance-not at all likely in the UK, eh?  I never used to answer mine anyway outside hours. Much  whinging

France has set the objective to reduce the number of road deaths in half by the year 2020. On Friday April 3, the Interior Ministry announced several measures to achieve this goal, including the ban of hands-free kits in vehicles that will take effect on June 30, 2015. The ban includes any mobile device hands-free kit that requires an ear bud, Bluetooth headset, earpiece or headphones, including those kits that only require one ear and leave the second ear free.

The use of a car phone or mobile phone while driving has been banned in France since 2001, but hands-free devices had been exempted from the restriction.

 In addition, buried inside a hotly contested French labor reform bill is an amendment suggesting that companies of 50 or more employees draft formal policies to limit the spillover of work, specifically as it’s related to “digital technology,” into the private lives of employees.  .

“All the studies show there is far more work-related stress today than there used to be, and that the stress is constant,” Benoit Hamon of the French National Assembly told the BBC. “Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash— like a dog. The texts, the messages, the emails — they colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.”

He's quite right too don't you think?.

Regards

Mike

Originally Posted by: RayRapp

I think we need to be careful when adopting the moral highground - it's not a one size fits all. Many people need to be contactable during their working day, especially when travelling on the road for several hours or out of normal office hours. Yes, I agree the use of mobile phones while driving should be dissuaded, not so sure about banning them altogether whilst driving. We often talk about personal responsibility and this is one area where I believe the individual should have a modicum of control. Assuming a hands-free kit of course, they can ignore the call if they choose, say I'm driving is it important, or I will phone you back at...it's about sensible measures which work for the individual.

Sorry but no one is taking the moral high ground but some are conditioned to believe that they need them and they need to be contactable, power comes in a lot of guises.

There is never a reason you need to be contactable if you are on a long journey plan it properly, i.e. put stops in, even if you believ that they need to be every 30 minutes, then put on the phone and check messages. I don't beleieve that mobile phones need to be on  reason 1 given above the other is control by the company.

Oh and don't forget if your partner needs to you to go the shop.

The lorry driver used his phone because he is conditioned to use it, what if as companies and safety practitioners we argued for them to be turned off, this could actually have an effect of conditiong people to act in a safe manner and turn private phones of as well.

Another distraction to consider is the use of sat-navs and mobile phones being used as sat-navs. They do display updates on traffic and provide re-routing, asking if you want to take an alternative route. This is a distraction and, if it involved interaction with the device, would presumably be considered similar to using a phone by the police or in the event of an accident?

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

Originally Posted by: Redders

Another distraction to consider is the use of sat-navs and mobile phones being used as sat-navs. They do display updates on traffic and provide re-routing, asking if you want to take an alternative route. This is a distraction and, if it involved interaction with the device, would presumably be considered similar to using a phone by the police or in the event of an accident?

Anything can be considered a distraction -someone was done for causing an accident while eating an apple.

And it's not even illegal to eat whilst driving.