COURIERS PLEASE DRIVER SAFETY
How CouriersPlease embraced technology and a driver-centred approach to support safety for over 800 franchisees during
‘super-peak’.
Background
CouriersPlease is one of Australia’s leading parcel delivery services, powered by an independently owned fleet of over 800 franchisee couriers, Australia-wide.
2020 was a year of extraordinary and swift growth at CouriersPlease which is great for business, but also puts couriers at risk of fatigue and burnout when demand for deliveries is so high. Not to mention the added risks of a global pandemic that turned everyone’s lives and business operations upside down, and had courier drivers regularly exposed to close contact with fellow franchisees and CouriersPlease customers.
Tim Starr, National HSE Manager at CouriersPlease came to us in need of a driver safety program that would address the immediate critical risks to their franchisees, like fatigue and COVID-19. But also to protect drivers from the real risks of work on the road, and build in the necessary refresher training to prevent incidents.
In Safework Australia’s Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2019 report, 43% of work-related fatalities were vehicle collisions. While this statistic is frightening, statistics don’t always work to drive real behavioural change, which is why Tim sought out Everyday Massive to help reset the focus on the ‘why’ behind safe driving that would really hit home. And to ensure drivers prioritise their wellbeing, instil better behaviours and habits, and ultimately, return home safe each day.
The Problem:
How to keep over 800 courier drivers safe on the road during COVID-19 delivery super-peak.
CouriersPlease franchisees are incredibly hard-working people, sometimes working very long days and 6 or 7 days a week during super-peak periods. Burnout and fatigue is a genuine concern, as are the other risks that come with long days on the road – loss of focus and concentration.
Providing driver safety support and training was critical, but it needed to be delivered in a way that was convenient and tailored to be genuinely effective for these people who are already time-poor and tired. Their existing EHS guidelines and driver support documents were lengthy PDFs and not easy to access, or consume in an expedient way.
Audience spotlight
To genuinely put the drivers’ needs at the centre, we undertook driver demographic research to ensure the language, tone and learning experience was appropriately tailored to our audience.
What did we learn?
TIME
CouriersPlease drivers are time-poor. We needed to create something that was bite size, easy to consume and didn’t add hassle to their already busy days.
ON THE GO
CouriersPlease drivers are either driving or loading and unloading their vehicles. They’re not sitting at a desk – we needed to create something that seamlessly fit into their day.
BUSINESS OWNERS
CouriersPlease franchisees are business owners. They’re motivated to work hard, but also motivated to look after their health so they can continue effectively running their business.
CLEAR AND SIMPLE LANGUAGE
There’s no need for fluff or unnecessary detail communicating with franchisees. They want something straight to the point, but appreciate a touch of humour where appropriate.
Once we had an understanding of our audience we could create a needs analysis to ensure our visuals and messaging would hit the right note.
Needs Analysis.
What this program / brand needs to deliver.
Mindset.
Safety isn’t just about avoiding fines,
or saving money –it’s about investing
in our minds and bodies to perform
at our best.
Every little action I take during the
day can contribute to me getting
home safe.This job can be tough on the body
and mind, but I know I can take care
of myself better.Together we can find opportunities
to do things a better way
Philosophy.
Human-centred safety
There’s more to safety than
following the rulesSafety is about more than just you
Good safety is good business
Future.
Changing the way drivers and
franchisees think about their
personal health and safety.Helping franchisees grow and
improve their business, through
taking care of themselves.Our people know the best actions to
take to look after themselves and
one another.
The Shift:
Creating a meaningful brand,
identity and messaging to
shift behaviours.
We didn’t want this learning experience to feel like a chore for drivers. We wanted to delight them and have them think ‘Ah, they really get me’. We wanted to meet them where they are so we could effectively support them.
The first thing we need to address in delivering any safety program is the ‘why’. Why does our driver behaviour on the road matter?
At the end of the day, it’s about getting home safe to our family, loved ones or the life we love. So how could we drive that home in a clear and succinct way?
Keep it simple. Create a brand and messaging framework that sticks to the same message. Consistency in messaging is key for providing clarity and reinforcing key messages to influence behavioural change. It might not be the first time something is heard that it sticks, but the third time that a message really drives home, so including thoughtful repetition helps make an impact
‘Get home safe’ became the name of our driver safety program, and focused on three key messaging pillars for the audience.
“The Safe Driver program was a highly engaging and interactive self-paced program that targeted the Courier drivers and their critical but often overlooked activity of driving safely. EverydayMassive brought a fresh and clear approach to the table and were able to translate words on paper to an impactful message to allow our drivers to make a personal connection with why working safely is as much about their home life and ability to enjoy the things they value.”
Tim Starr, National HSE Manager.
Good safety means good business
Whether it’s keeping our vehicles in shape, registrations up to date or sticking to the road rules – every good safety choice saves money and time off the road. And gives more time to focus on what matters – growing our business and getting the job done safely.
The right fuel for our bodies
Taking care of our bodies through rest, good food and hydration are some of the simple steps we can take to improve our daily performance. With a rested mind and a healthy body, we can operate at our best and help fight fatigue.
Make every journey a HomeSafe journey
From the moment we start our shift to the final stretch home, there’s endless opportunities to create a HomeSafe journey. Getting rid of distractions, adjusting to conditions, careful loading, or sticking to the speed limit are the little things that help us take care of the big things.
The Solution:
A custom learning experience for courier drivers.
The core tool of trade CouriersPlease franchisees use day-in, day-out – apart from their vehicle – is their hand-held scanner. This smart mobile device enables drivers to coordinate their shifts, their deliveries and also receive and engage with communications from CouriersPlease HQ.
To us, it was the logical destination to house the learning experience so drivers could access it any day, any time. And, it provided us with a fun challenge – to design a series of micro-learning modules within the constraints of the device.
Working with James Hucker, National Fleet Manager at CouriersPlease, we investigated ways we could tailor a unique learning experience to upload to drivers’ scanners.
We discovered we could only upload JPEGs, and we were limited to 6 images on a scroll before the driver would need to select ‘next’. We also had to design for the smaller screen size and resolution (1280 px x 720 px) and ensure it was a pleasant user experience for the drivers.
This meant using bold text and clear visuals, keeping the messages short and sweet to drive a narrative, and building in wayfinding UX to encourage scrolling through and guide the learner through the pages.
With Tim Starr (National HSE Manager) we identified the priority focus areas and developed 9 highly interactive and self-paced learning modules that would provide the best support for drivers.
Delivered as a weekly instalment over 9 weeks, the program was rolled out via team leader toolbox talks and pushed to the driver scanner so the messages reached the frontline directly. This ensured drivers weren’t overwhelmed with information, and would increase their engagement with each module.
CouriersPlease CEO Mark McGinley announced the launch of the program with the supporting narrative video. This helped establish the real care and meaning behind the driver safety program, priming drivers with the ‘why’ before jumping into the modules.
Drivers were reminded daily to Get Home Safe with the reinforcement of the program provided in the form of a vehicle air freshener and safety message.
We also re-designed the vehicle incident form, to make reporting easy and efficient for drivers.
The Results:
Overwhelming engagement, with 93% of participants completing all modules.
The Get Home Safe launch and learning modules garnered great feedback from both franchisees and leaders at CouriersPlease.
“The Safe Driver program was a highly engaging and interactive self-paced program that targeted the Courier drivers and their critical but often overlooked activity of driving safely. EverydayMassive brought a fresh and clear approach to the table and were able to translate words on paper to an impactful message to allow our drivers to make a personal connection with why working safely is as much about their home life and ability to enjoy the things they value.” Tim Starr, National HSE Manager.
A survey sent to 176 drivers showed that 93% completed all modules, with 73% saying they had already incorporated tips into their routines.
92% agreed the modules have helped them perform their work safely, and 88% found it an easy user experience.
87% said the learning experience made them feel valued as part of the CouriersPlease team.
Overall, drivers were happy the company was taking an active interest in their safety, with one driver saying, “I think this is fantastic and very well laid out. Whoever did this knew how to do their job.”
One driver wrote, “This has helped give me confidence as a CouriersPlease driver.” Another said, “Even though I’ve worked for CouriersPlease for over 20 years, the program was a nice refresher for safety tips and also informative for new things I hadn’t known in the past.”
Tim Starr who was the core driver of the project was also awarded for living out the CouriersPlease HomeSafe value.
“Tim has driven, produced and delivered a fantastic safety piece in the Driver Safety Program. This program is so important in creating driver-specific safety awareness and has been designed in a way that is relevant, fun, engaging and fresh. Tim really identified the critical importance of this program and has not stopped in driving it to where it is today. The feedback has been fantastic to date and has really shown what exciting and accessible learning approaches like this can achieve.”
IIt was a pleasure working collaboratively with Tim, James and the CouriersPlease team to achieve a curated safety program with great impact.