Nestlé receives NAFA 2014 Excellence in Corporate Fleet Safety Flexy award

Nestlé is the world’s leading food, health and nutrition company operating >30,000 vehicles in 86+ countries.

Nestlé calculated that in 2004 in Europe it needed to sell 235 million KitKats to finance its motor fleet risks. This led to a stakeholder workshop in Switzerland, with support from its Insurer Zurich, a 10 Point Safe Driving Program Checklist and the application of Virtual Risk Manager (VRM) as a global business tool. A range of initiatives have since been facilitated, initially through the company’s ‘early adopting’ businesses and now expanding across the group. Key steps include:

• Nestlé Group Risk prioritised motor fleet loss prevention procedures, programs and processes framed by the Haddon Matrix systems based approach.
• Global road safety committee and KPIs established, collaborating across key business functions including Group Risk, Fleet, Safety Health & Environment (SHE), Human Resources and Procurement.
• Global fleet safety tool kit developed for countries entering the program.
• Driving Safety built into the Global Nestlé Occupational Safety and Health Standard.
• VRM supported globally for driver risk assessment, monitoring and improvement in collaboration with Zurich and Interactive Driving Systems.
• Local managers continually engaged to focus on fleet risk management.
• Gap analysis and standards developed for contractors and vendors.
• Increasing focus on emerging markets with low road safety standards.
• Industry leadership through participation in the US Global Road Safety for Workers project, the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration, the Global Road Safety Partnership, the Fleet Safety Benchmarking project and events hosted by its insurer Zurich.

As an example, Nestlé Mexico’s fleet of cars, trucks, buses and motor cycles is faced by some of the world’s most dangerous traffic conditions. Nestlé Mexico implemented:

• In-classroom defensive driving courses and communications for supervisors, sales force and contractors.
• Analysis of collision statistics to determine deviations.
• Vehicle purchase criteria, to include safety, environmental impact and security.
• Safe and defensive driving module integrated into training courses for sales personnel.
• VRM across all businesses including contract drivers.

To make this process a success, Nestlé Mexico:

• Designated a committee for the VRM implementation.
• Customised all program materials including Nestlé Safe Driving Policies, Golden Rules and Pledge to local language, cultural needs, policies and standards.
• Trained all relevant Managers and Supervisors on the use of VRM tool.
• Provided unlimited support through a designated Vice President as project ‘Champion’.
• Created a local ‘Call Center’ for direct technical support for VRM participants.
• Developed a collision/incident registry system for monitoring.
• Used all marketing and communication channels to promote a Safe Driving Culture.

Nestlé Mexico achieved the following reductions during the first 12 months:

• Fatalities (3 to 0).
• Injuries (-48%).
• Collisions (-39%).
• Claims frequency and costs (-22%).

Three year evaluation data soon to be published in an academic research paper also shows the long term sustained success of the Mexico road safety initiative.

More recently, other countries in Latin America have joined or are preparing to join the Nestlé Virtual Risk Manager program, including: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica.

Overall, Nestlé’s programs show that:

• Fleet safety is a significant risk, and an important conduit for community road safety.
• Using driver risk assessment, monitoring & improvement programs to create a crash free culture has potential for business and road safety policy with online tools providing a standardised approach that can easily be adopted for local requirements to engage large numbers of road users.
• Effective collaboration and leadership is vital for vital for successful fleet programs.

The NAFA Fleet Management Association is synonymous with excellence in the fleet industry. The Fleet Excellence Awards (Flexy for short) shine a spotlight on those who impacted fleet in both the corporate and public fleet segments during 2013 – 2014. These awards were anonymously reviewed by a prestigious industry panel consisting of fleet managers and members of the fleet industry.