Ensuring the right help is available to a business if its people are involved in serious and minor road crashes is a key focus of a programme introduced by New Zealand's largest commercial vehicle insurer, NZI.
The Fleet Fit programme offers NZI customers a comprehensive suite of value-added services including Crash Scene Assistance.
NZI's national manager of commercial motor Ian Taylor says this service is often the least used part of Fleet Fit, but is the most important. He says it is vital for companies to know that when their people are involved in a serious crash they are being looked after properly.
"You might not need crash scene assistance for every crash, but if one of your people is injured or there's a complex damage to third party property or an environmental issue to sort out, you really want to know that there's somewhere you can go," he says
"We have specialists all over the country who can deal with minor accidents through to serious crashes with complex consequences. This ensures costs are contained and you are back on the road as soon as possible.
"If you are an NZI or Lumley customer then 0800111108 is your 'get out of Dodge' number. Call it and we'll send an expert to sort out the issues.
"We'll get your people out of the crash scene and on the way home, we'll get your vehicle off to a repairer and do what needs to be done to clean up the crash site and limit your potential liability for third party damage."
Taylor says we are living in an age of new expectations on insurance companies. Insurers are no longer simply there to pay for any crash repairs or accidental damage to company vehicles, but are today taking responsibility for providing a comprehensive support service to customers.
This helps them become more efficient and safer businesses
Business vehicle fleet managers are also being helped to "embed" a culture of health and safety - and business efficiencies - through the Fleet Fit programme. Among a range of services offered are online surveys, driver training and seminars to help business operators improve their health and safety culture, a critical issue of the new Health and Safety at Work Act.
"Under the new act there's a perception that the health and safety obligations on employers are complex," says Taylor. "In reality they're not complex, but they are new and like anything new it can take some time to get used to them.
"We recommend using third party resources to help get up to speed."
NZI says Traction Plus, an assessment run by third party provider Success Formula, will help employers meet some of the new health and safety law requirements including staff participation, PCBU management and leadership responsibility.
"If you're insuring a fleet with us, talk to your insurance broker about what we can offer - I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised."