WORKFORCE management solution specialist Romex World has announced it will be working on the Volvo Co-Pilot initiative in a bid to improve safety standards for company car users.
According to the Department of Transport, more than a quarter of all road traffic accidents on British roads involve someone driving for work and accidents involving business drivers cause 20 deaths and 200 serious injuries every week.
As part of Volvo’s mission that by 2020 nobody shall be injured or killed in one of its new cars, the manufacturer has launched a support programme designed to help SMEs get on top of their legal and social obligations and ensure the safety of their fleets and drivers.
The Co-Pilot programme was developed in conjunction with Volvo’s driver risk consultancy partner Fleet 21 and will see Volvo give £495 work of risk management consultancy and practical support free of charge to every business buying or leasing its first Volvo.
Romex’s Mobile Driver Protection module, that combats driver distraction, will be part of the Co-Pilot programme.
This module automatically disables an employees’ mobile phone while driving through using GPS to detect movement.
Bluetooth use of the phone can be enabled, according to company policy, but any interaction with the hand-set is blocked.
Notifications of email, text or social media are suppressed until the driver is stationary, removing the temptation to take their eyes off the road.
Elias Fattal, director at Romex said: “We are delighted to be part of this programme as Romex is all about providing mobile software solutions that deliver Road Safety benefits, employee optimisation, improving operational performance and productivity, reducing cost and helping companies with Health & Safety compliance.
“Our solution is the only app that has the ability to monitor employees’ phones to ensure compliance with company policy and the law when it comes to use of the phone while driving. We strongly feel that there is no point in having a policy unless it can be monitored to ensure compliance with all company policies.
“As part of the Volvo Co-Pilot programme we are offering customers the first three months free of charge when they sign up with Romex on a 12 month contract for Driver Protection or any of our other Mobile Workforce Management Applications. This is up to a value of £1000 maximum.”
