Data sharing via telematics could reduce road traffic incidents among rail staff at work
The past decade has seen a worrying rise in road traffic deaths among rail staff at work. Telematics offers a way to generate actual risk-based data on vehicle metrics such as speeding, dashboard warnings, and braking.
Between 2009 and 2019, road traffic incidents were the most significant contributor to fatalities among rail industry staff. Of the 20 deaths that occurred during this decade, half were work-related road deaths.
Keeping rail staff safe is as important on the road network as it is on the rail network. RSSB is supporting the industry’s Road Risk Group (RRG) as it searches for a way to halt—and hopefully reverse—this increase in road fatalities.
Data sharing for industry-level risk management
Specifically, the RRG is looking at optimising the use of telematics—a method of monitoring road vehicles by using GPS technology and on-board diagnostics—on rail organisations’ moving assets. It’s already known that different companies in the industry use different telematics systems to collect vehicle risk data, but what’s less clear is what information is being captured, how it’s being used, and whether it would be compatible across distinct systems.
To gain clarity on these uncertainties, the RRG has launched a survey to uncover exactly how different rail organisations are monitoring road driving risk via telematics. The hope is that by better understanding these data collection and analysis methods, it would eventually be possible to introduce industry-level risk monitoring.
Being able to implement a method of road risk data sharing and aggregation across the industry would have much greater impact. Building up a shared, rather than patchwork, picture of information such as instances of speeding, dashboard warnings identified, and collisions could enable a larger-scale effort to bring down road traffic accidents and associated fatalities.
Companies already using telematics for data sharing across their fleets are benefitting from standardised scorecards that display actual risk elements rather than perceived risk elements. And the benefits don’t end there; some systems can track emissions data as well, which could support industry’s journey to net zero.
In addition, introducing vehicle telematic data could:
- monitor overall fleet mileage against fuel expenditure
- support improved work planning by looking at when (day vs. night) journeys are taking place
- improve fatigue prevention by monitoring journey distances
- inform decision making when it comes to implementing change management or risk reduction programmes.
With benefits as extensive as this, optimising the way we use telematics on rail’s road vehicles could bring meaningful safety improvements to workers across the industry.
Learn more about what telematics data can tell us in our video below.
How is your organisation tracking road driving risk? Take our survey
In order to move forward, we’re inviting your organisation to complete our 10-minute survey and share your company’s current practices. How do you collect road risk data, and how do you use it to drive improvements? Your feedback will be vital for helping us protect our workers on the road.
