3M Takes a "Giant Step" to Secure Road Safety 'Business Champion' Status
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LONDON – July 8, 2009: Diversified technology company 3M played its part in helping astronaut Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon and 40 years later the organisation is in the vanguard of promoting occupational road safety.
3M, which operates a UK-based fleet of more than 800 company cars with a further 400 employees driving their own cars on business, is the latest organisation to be recruited as a ‘business champion’ under the Government’s ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign.
Simultaneously, 3M, which has its UK headquarters in Bracknell, has today (Wednesday, July 8) signed the European Road Safety Charter in London. The Charter came to London on ‘tour’ as part of the campaign to cut in half the number of road fatalities across Europe from 50,000 annually to 25,000.
3M has had a long-time focus on occupational road risk management. However, the central plank of its current strategy, which was introduced almost 12 months ago, is a complete ban on mobile phone use while driving.
While it is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving, it is legal to use a hands-free phone. However, research by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and TRL, the UK’s leading transport research laboratory, suggests that drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a road crash if they are using a mobile phone on the road.
Some 10 million business miles are driven annually by 3M employees in the UK and Ireland. In a typical year there are approximately 140 incidents involving 3M vehicles, with an average vehicle repair cost of £890. In the past five years, 23 incidents resulted in injuries to 3M employees. There were no fatalities.
3M says the mobile phone ban was introduced proactively as a preventative measure - not as a reaction to incidents involving 3M drivers. ‘Before and after’ crash statistics are being monitored, but, the company says, more time will need to pass before a meaningful analysis can be undertaken. However, the company says other benefits are already apparent - particularly in the form of PR, employee engagement and company reputation.
3M managing director Doug Mitchell said: “There has been a growing bank of compelling evidence that using even hands-free phones affects various aspects of driving performance.
“Our employees’ welfare and safety is paramount to 3M - we have an outstanding record when it comes to the prevention of work place accidents - and we are fully committed to keeping that record whether our employees are on 3M premises or on the move.
“We believe we are one of the first companies in the UK to put in place a complete ban on mobile phone use while driving. No phone call is so important that it must be answered immediately.”
Commenting on the company’s involvement in the ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign and the signing of the Charter, Mr Mitchell said: “Just as we promote health and safety best practice in our offices so we must also promote a duty of care on the road.
“A road traffic accident, whether or not it directly involves one of our employees, can have a direct impact on our business by delaying staff travelling to an important client meeting which can then effect our relations with that customer.
“We believe that a robust occupational road risk management strategy leads to fewer road crashes, meaning more reliable journey times and an improved environment in which to conduct business.
“Introducing this ban was both difficult and easy. It was difficult because the senior management team was fully aware of the effect it would have on the working practices of so many employees - and the potential consequential impact on business. However, presented with compelling evidence of the dangers, it was, ultimately, an easy decision to make. Since making the decision many organisations have approached 3M to learn about our experience.”
When the mobile phone ban was introduced employees were briefed not to use their phones unless their cars were stationary with the handbrake on. They were also told when making calls to colleagues’ mobile phones to check that the person receiving the call was not driving before continuing with the call.
Staff were consulted in the run-up to the ban and following its introduction as 3M saw that maximum compliance was more likely to be achieved with an appropriate level of understanding as to why it was being introduced. The policy allows phones to be switched on - but not used while driving.
Initially, a majority of staff did not welcome the ban (56%). Just three months later, though, this had fallen to 41%, with many employees reporting that they were complying with the rule because they understood that using a mobile phone while driving was a dangerous distraction and could lead to a crash.
Additionally, since the work ban, an increasing number of employees say they have avoided using a mobile phone while making private journeys.
Mr Mitchell added: “We have no plans to marry call data with employees’ driving times in order to monitor compliance, as this would be strongly counter-cultural in an organisation where employee empowerment is considered central to our success.
“Our communications programme is designed to win hearts and minds through education - with the repetition and reinforcement of messages over time.”
And the message is simple and clear. 3M cannot determine what employees choose to do if they use their own phone in their private car for a personal phone call - but if ‘business’ is associated with any one of these three elements, the ban applies.
Within the wider 3M company, other 3M subsidiaries are now studying the UK's approach to occupational road risk management, with 3M France being the first to introduce a similar ban.
The UK and Ireland is home to one of the largest 3M subsidiaries outside the USA, employing more than 3,500 people across 18 locations, including 12 manufacturing sites.
The worldwide US corporation, which includes the Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate and Scotch-Brite brands among its 55,000 different products, manufactured the materials used to make the space boots Neil Armstrong wore when he became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.
Long-standing 3M at-work driving safety initiatives include:
Additionally, child road safety has been a focus of 3M’s community programme in the UK and Ireland since 2005. In that time the company has donated more than 100,000 high visibility reflective vests to school children local to 3M sites throughout the country and also funded an education-in-science theatre company to visit primary schools with a play about road safety. A free web based teaching resource - www.3Mstreetwise.co.uk - has also been introduced.
The ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign is managed by RoadSafe on behalf of the Department for Transport, which is working with the police and a raft of other agencies to encourage companies and organisations nationwide to implement best practice occupational road risk management programmes.
A key feature of the campaign is the highlighting of best practice fleets - known as ‘business champions’ - which are then used to fly the flag for at-work driving safety at seminars, conferences and shows both locally and nationally.
Campaign manager Caroline Scurr said: “3M has taken a bold initiative in banning the use of all mobile phones while driving. It is a move we applaud and one we hope other organisations follow as there is no doubt that the distraction of a call contributes to the to help the number of deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads. Our ‘business champions’ have a crucial role to play in promoting occupational road risk management across the UK.”
