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Driving Smart: Tips to Introduce Dash Cams to Your Employees
Updated: June 5th, 2024.
Running a company is never easy, as employees and employers encounter challenges. Specifically, initiating dashcam setup presents a significant hurdle for companies. However, the obstacle does not lie in the installation and management process itself. Instead, introducing and managing employees' reactions to the idea is the primary challenge. Despite these difficulties, employing dash cams can substantially simplify fleet management tasks.
Most fleet-related business managers rely on fleet management software. Therefore, they treat dash cams as an add-on to simplify relevant tasks. There is no significant difference between these cameras and other tracking devices. All these measures are implemented to ensure the driver's and passengers' safety.
Dashcams are paramount; implementing them in your business can provide priceless advantages. This blog will serve as a guide on how to introduce them to your employees, training and support methods, procedures to implement, and how to monitor and evaluate progress.
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Understanding Dash Cams
As the name implies, a dash cam, or dashboard camera, is a device mounted on your vehicle's dashboard. It is set to act as a "silent witness" in case of an accident. It is designed to accurately and carefully record every detail of a trip.
There are several benefits to dash cams for both individual drivers and fleets, so it would be wise for everyone who spends any time driving to invest in one.
Dash cameras are a great tool for better fleet management, lower insurance premiums, and safer driving. They record footage that might establish blame in a collision, which could result in thousands of dollars saved on insurance. In addition to promoting safe driving practices and discouraging would-be scammers, dash cameras alert drivers that they are being filmed.
Addressing Concerns
Privacy concerns and driver resistance
Drivers may resist having their operations recorded because they view it as an infringement on their privacy or an indication of managerial distrust; this, in turn, can impact their productivity.
However, as business owners, setting appropriate and compliant data-collecting processes and being upfront about why dashcams are being installed is crucial.
Emphasizing the protection benefits and ensuring transparent data usage policies are crucial to overcoming drivers' resistance, which may stem from privacy concerns, fear of constant surveillance, and concerns about potential footage misuse. Access to footage should be restricted to authorized personnel and used only for security resolution.
Incentives and driver participation in decision-making are two further strategies for reducing pushback. Drivers can get past their initial apprehension and aversion to dash cameras with good communication, data protection safeguards, and an emphasis on security and safety advantages.
Legal and compliance issues
Different laws around the use of dash cams depend on your jurisdiction. Complying with such regulations is non-negotiable. In most jurisdictions, these cameras can record videos on public roads. However, some areas restrict the audio recording to avoid infringement on private conversations.
To tackle these compliance and legal issues, it is crucial to seek advice from attorneys to ensure you're following all the rules and regulations. Then, establish transparent policies and procedures for managing dashcams, monitor their performance, and make adjustments to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Communicating the Benefits
Explaining the benefits of a dashcam is an effective way to convince your employees to embrace it. This device comes with many benefits, some of which are listed below:
Maintains your driver's driving standard
Once you register as a business vehicle owner, you must raise the standard for your drivers. These are the people on the ground to market and showcase how professional your company is. This is more important for vehicles used for different services and long distances, so using a dash cam allows you to monitor and review your driver's behavior.
Liability reduction
Dash cam footage can be invaluable in minimizing liability during disputes. Since they capture real-time shots of road accidents, they'll give you irrefutable evidence. These recordings can exonerate drivers from false claims, reducing your liability in accidents. You can also use it to improve your driver's behavior and ensure they adhere to safety protocols.
Operational efficiency
In addition to enhancing efficiency, dash cameras help simplify fleet administration. They can aid in optimizing routes for greater efficiency, tracking vehicles' whereabouts, and monitoring driver conduct, all of which contribute to better fleet management. Furthermore, managers can enhance driver training by reviewing dash cam footage to determine drivers' needs and giving them specific instructions. In addition, by recording events and accidents automatically, dash cameras can reduce administrative workloads and provide room for other critical responsibilities.
Deters fraudulent insurance claims
Installing dash cams could save a lot of money on your insurance costs. Dash cameras can help drivers save money on insurance by lowering the number of false claims. Furthermore, insurance firms can better evaluate risk and modify rates based on the data provided by dash cameras, which document important information about driver behavior. Another way to cut expenses is by taking advantage of the discounts and incentives offered by insurance companies to drivers who use dash cameras.
Training & Support
Develop comprehensive training programs to ensure employees are proficient with dashcam usage. This training should cover the importance of dashcams for safety and accountability and include hands-on demonstrations of installation and operation. Key features such as recording, playback, and troubleshooting common issues should also be covered.
Practical sessions can include real-life scenarios to emphasize proper usage and maintenance. The training will enhance employees' confidence and effectiveness in utilizing dashcams. Paying drivers for their training time should also be considered a motivational drive. Provide take-home information and printed collateral to help drivers learn more—a clear understanding of how the technology works will give them confidence.
Acknowledge that new technology and change are not apparent to everyone. Therefore, you should let your drivers discuss adopting the new system. This will create a more collaborative environment. All drivers are committed to getting to their destination safely. Hence, basing the training on safety benefits can help them accept the system.
Establishing Policies & Procedures
Before starting with dashcams, update your driver's code of conduct and related policies. Dashcams should be included with official standards to review how to handle offenders. For precise and concise communication, include only the necessary information and use straightforward language and terms that are easy to remember and easily accessible.
Since the dashcams will record personal data, maintain an up-to-date privacy policy. Ensure they understand the data is securely stored in EROAD and only accessible to authorized users when needed. To get the correct value from the videos, ensure they are shared with as few people as possible.
Additionally, open forums should be created to allow drivers to ask questions and express their concerns. Then, take the time to answer them and explain the company's policies and safety objectives. This will help them understand what to expect from the changes.
Please consider the risk of exposure to graphic footage when creating your policy. It's important to prevent close friends or relatives of accident victims from accessing the footage. Additionally, consider establishing a successful employee assistance program to support individuals traumatized by such videos. Establishing these policies as a first step is crucial, even before purchasing and installing the cameras. These policies may also help you select the right dashcam for the job.
Monitoring & Evaluation
According to NSTSCE, a good coaching program involves providing feedback on safe driving behaviors because concentrating on risky behaviors only makes the participants view the process negatively. Therefore, associating the dashcams with positive events will help the drivers embrace them.
While addressing negative responses from your driver is essential, celebrate their achievements too. You can send monthly or weekly emails highlighting footage of excellent driving.
Additionally, take time to review harsh moments where they were not in the wrong. Having such feedback will help reduce such harsh events. When you want to discuss a negative incident with a driver, consider doing it in private. You should also approach the incident with concern and care, not judgment.
Using dashcam footage as a driving aid will help your drivers remain conscious on the road, and introducing it positively can foster a trusting partnership between management and employees.
Conclusion
Introducing dash cams to your employees can be a complex process, yet it is a critical step toward enhancing fleet management, ensuring driver safety, and reducing liability. To get a positive response from your employees, it is important to properly communicate the benefits of dash cameras, address any privacy or legal issues, and provide full training and support.
To ensure dash cameras work well with your fleet operations, set up clear regulations and procedures and monitor and evaluate them regularly. When properly installed, dash cameras may increase operational efficiency, boost safety standards, and save money, contributing to your company's long-term success.
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