Cloud-based risk management: Transforming business safety processes

Industries employing commercial and non-commercial drivers experience immense pressure to meet safety regulations and ensure employee and brand protection. A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that approximately 40 percent of motor vehicle accidents are work-related and cost employers over $56 billion annually, with 53 percent of vehicle accidents causing employees to miss work. Whether a company employs sales professionals, commercial drivers or service technicians, the importance of tracking driver performance is paramount.

In the 21st century, businesses can no longer ignore the modern data solutions revolutionizing company risk management. The cloud-based fleet management market is projected to be worth over $17 billion by 2025, and this surge in market growth has unearthed inefficiencies in mobility risk management. Consistent feedback on driving behavior is key to mitigating a fleet company’s risk, which is why employers and fleet managers are increasingly embracing cloud-based technology and its real-time reporting benefits.

While reviewing motor vehicle reports, validating driver’s license information and conducting thorough background checks on prospective employees is crucial, companies shouldn’t stop there. Effectively mitigating risk requires a comprehensive cloud-based solution that continuously captures and manages driver information in one convenient place. With readily available insights into employee driving behaviors both on and off the job, companies can make decisions quickly and remain confident they have qualified drivers behind the wheel.

Identifying high-risk drivers and helping employers enforce safety policies using monitoring programs with real-time reporting and programmatic risk categorization, cloud-based risk management better positions companies to manage employees and evaluate hiring and turnover needs. Collecting driving records from numerous states as they become available has traditionally been extremely time consuming and vulnerable to unconscious bias and human error, introducing a need for technology that takes complex driver data from each state and delivers real-time scorecards to assess individual driver performance based on key data points. Utilizing a quality mobility risk management solution that enables data collection and compilation across the organization is pivotal to improving productivity and bottom-line results.

Implementing the safety processes outlined throughout this piece will help employers protect themselves, and their insurers, from direct and indirect liability by championing safety for their company and their customers. The doctrine of respondent superior dictates vicarious liability occurs when an employer is determined to be indirectly responsible for employee behavior deemed negligent, such as an automobile accident caused by an employee. Employers can also be held directly liable when an accident occurs if it is determined that their decisions and business processes resulted in a lack of safety and negligent oversight that led to the crash. This form of liability is distinct from the above in that it exposes companies to lawsuits seeking punitive damages in addition to traditional compensatory damages that would already be awarded to the injured party.

Society is safer when employers recognize risks and take proactive steps to guarantee that they can identify real-time changes in employee performance. This increase in employee safety can also be leveraged when it comes time to negotiate rates with insurance providers, which will directly affect a company’s bottom line.

Modern technology has made mitigating risk a comprehensive, streamlined process. HR professionals and managers are given the ability to ensure the highest level of community and driver safety, ultimately equipping companies with the tools to make well-informed business and operational decisions.

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As Vice President of Marketing for SambaSafety, Chris Thompson directs and oversees the execution and implementation of all corporate marketing initiatives. He brings more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience in building and scaling high-performing modern marketing organizations. Prior to joining SambaSafety in 2018, Thompson held executive marketing roles with several SaaS software startups in the healthcare and cybersecurity industries.