For fleet operators and businesses whose employees drive for work, occupational road risk remains one of the most significant health and safety challenges. Ensuring legal compliance is only part of the solution. Real protection for people, organisations and reputations comes when a proactive, safety-first culture is embedded across the business.
Essential Fleet Manager Magazine spoke with Caitlin Taylor from the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA), a project delivered by RoSPA and funded by Transport Scotland, about the important role the organisation plays in promoting occupational road safety and supporting fleet compliance.
Caitlin explains how ScORSA works with partners and employers to provide guidance, resources and leadership that help organisations move beyond minimum legal standards, supporting the development of safer drivers, safer vehicles and safer journeys for all.
Q: What are the issues that have been identified in fleet operational risk that ScORSA sees as most critical?
One of the most critical issues is how organisations manage and influence safe driving behaviours within a work context. Factors such as time pressure, workload, fatigue, distraction, and vehicle familiarity can increase risk if not properly managed. These challenges are rarely about individual fault; they are usually rooted in systems, expectations, and organisational culture.
Grey fleet management is another significant challenge. Employees using their own vehicles for work require checks on insurance, vehicle condition, and licence validity, even though these vehicles sit outside direct corporate control. Without clear processes, gaps can quickly develop.
Organisations often collect large amounts of information, such as incident reports, licence checks, inspections, and telematics, but the challenge lies in using it effectively. Recording data is just the first step; the quality of review, analysis, and follow-up action is what reduces risk. Incidents may be logged without examining underlying causes, and telematics data may not translate into coaching or policy improvements. Policies and compliance checks may exist, but are rarely reviewed regularly to ensure alignment with operational realities. Without structured review and visible leadership, opportunities for learning and improvement are missed.
Q: To what extent do you help organisations identify areas of concern before going on to provide solutions?
A significant part of our role is to act as a critical ally. Instead of providing ready-made solutions, we encourage organisations to reflect on their systems, assumptions, and oversight. Our framework prompts discussion on leadership accountability, policy clarity, operational controls, and how risk information flows.
Many organisations are already doing positive things, but may not have assessed whether these elements connect coherently. Using our framework, they can identify blind spots, duplication, or unclear responsibilities. Establishing a clear understanding of their current position enables them to determine achievable next steps, reinforcing internal ownership and supporting sustainable, long-term improvement.
Q: Of those issues, which are the most challenging to address?
The most challenging issue is often cultural rather than technical. Systems and processes can be introduced relatively quickly, but embedding a consistent safety culture requires sustained leadership commitment and engagement across the organisation.
Ensuring that occupational road risk is recognised as a shared responsibility, rather than solely an operational or compliance matter, takes time. Grey fleet management adds complexity because it requires balancing employee flexibility with employer duty of care. Addressing these challenges effectively requires a long-term, collaborative approach rather than a one-off initiative.
Q: As well as explaining your steering group, how do you engage and collaborate with operational fleet professionals and other partners to develop valuable tools and resources?
ScORSA’s work is guided by a multi-agency steering group made up of road safety professionals, operational fleet managers from both private and public sector organisations, and representatives from Transport Scotland. This mix of strategic and operational expertise is vital in ensuring our projects remain realistic, relevant, and firmly grounded in the day-to-day challenges faced by fleet operators.
The steering group shapes priorities, sense-checks outputs, and ensures products reflect real-world conditions. Fleet managers bring emerging issues and share successful practices from their own organisations
Beyond the steering group, we engage a wider network of fleet professionals through webinars, events, and discussions. Operators exchange experiences, highlight new risks, and share best practices. Insights gained help us refine tools and guidance, which are then shared across the network to support learning and continuous improvement. Collaboration ensures solutions are practical, scalable, and effective in real operational environments.
Q: How does ScORSA help operators raise awareness and communicate effective solutions?
At ScORSA, raising awareness is rooted in ensuring organisations understand both current and emerging risks in fleet operations. We undertake and commission research to explore emerging complexities, including artificial intelligence in fleet management systems, advanced driver assistance systems, and the increasing integration of automated vehicle technologies. By identifying and analysing these trends early, we help operators stay ahead of change and make informed decisions before risks become incidents.
We strengthen this insight with practical case studies drawn from member organisations, showcasing real-world examples of how occupational road risks have been identified, addressed, and monitored. These case studies provide tangible evidence of effective management in practice and enable organisations to learn from peer experience.
We also deliver targeted campaigns on distraction, fatigue, seasonal driving pressures, and emerging technologies. These highlight issues and direct organisations to guidance, toolkits, and resources, helping them move from awareness to action in a structured and sustainable way.
Q: Beyond compliance, how do you help operators to create an all-around safe vehicle and driver culture?
Moving beyond compliance requires embedding road safety into organisational values rather than treating it as a tick-box exercise. We encourage proactive measures, including regular driver risk assessments, ongoing training, and robust near-miss reporting.
A safe culture recognises that vehicles are workplaces and driving is safety-critical. By integrating occupational road risk into wider health and safety strategies, organisations create an environment where safe driving is the norm and drivers feel supported rather than scrutinised. This cultural shift ultimately protects both people and reputation.
Q: How does ScORSA membership demonstrate commitment to occupational road safety?
ScORSA is a free membership programme, funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Membership of ScORSA provides independent recognition that an organisation is actively engaging with best practice in occupational road risk management. It demonstrates to stakeholders, including clients, insurers, regulators, and employees, that road safety is being managed systematically and not simply reactively.
For many organisations, membership evidences structured oversight, continuous improvement, and leadership commitment to safer operations.
Q: What measurable benefits do organisations gain through ScORSA membership?
ScORSA membership is designed to provide structured support and shared learning.
Organisations that engage with the framework often tell us that they learn something new through the process, whether that relates to emerging risks, gaps in their governance arrangements, or opportunities to strengthen existing controls. The reflective nature of the framework encourages organisations to step back and critically review their approach to occupational road risk. As a result, many members make practical improvements to their policies and procedures.
Members also value the sense of community that comes with being part of the network. The opportunity to connect with other fleet professionals, share experiences, and discuss challenges openly creates a supportive environment where organisations can learn from one another rather than working in isolation. That peer exchange often provides reassurance as well as practical insight.
For many, success is reflected not only in data but in increased confidence, improved policy clarity, and a more consistent and informed approach to managing occupational road risk across the organisation
To find out more and to join ScORSA, visit: www.scorsa.org.uk
This article appeared in Essential Fleet Manager Magazine issue 2(2026)
