Baseline Research Programme: Workplace Road Safety - How does a good "Safety Culture" translate to a good "Road Safety Culture"?

Workplace drivers/riders (i.e., employees who drive/ride light commercial vehicles [LCV] and those who drive/ride as independent contractors within the gig economy), are over-represented in road crashes and under-represented in intervention efforts to improve road safety. The concept of ‘workplace road safety culture’ has been identified as a potential intervention to improve road safety behaviour, thereby reducing road trauma, within these driver/rider cohorts. This Executive Overview presents the findings from a four-phase research program that aimed to identify 'best practice' in current workplace road safety culture for workplace drivers in LCV and motorcycle riders, and in gig or on-demand work, as well as barriers and facilitators for implementing controls to enhancing workplace road safety culture. Each Phase produced an output of a peer-reviewed manuscript. The findings presented here represent a summary of each of the four Phases. Phase 1: Reviewed the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify the existing documented strategies for promoting a 'good safety culture' in the context of workplace road safety. Phase 2: Analysed the legislative frameworks and Acts related to workplace road safety in the state of Victoria (i.e., WHS legislation, Road Acts, & Regulatory guidance material). Phase 3: Compared workplace road safety culture from the perspective of key industry group representatives (including: managers, industry stakeholders, and workplace drivers/riders in LCV and the gig economy) through a series of semi-structured interviews. Phase 4: Identified barriers and facilitators for implementing controls that can enhance workplace road safety culture, and thereby reduce work-related driving/riding incidents, for workplace drivers. Based on the findings of each of the four Phases, several key themes were identified, including: i) emphasising the role of managers and leaders to promote a workplace road safety culture, ii) training drivers/riders to improve their skills and to increase their awareness of safe driving/riding and company safety policies and procedures, iii) balancing responsibilities by acknowledging the importance of employee safe driving/riding without overburdening drivers/riders, and iv) regularly evaluating and adjusting workplace road safety policies and procedures. Future research should focus on the development of evidence-based interventions and strategies aimed at reducing work-related driving/riding incidents and promoting a positive workplace road safety culture for both employed drivers/riders and independent contractors.