Road Safety Through Preparation and Planning

During National Road Safety Week, we’re proud to spotlight how safety is built into the way IXOM plans and executes every trip, before the journey begins.

Whether travelling between sites or visiting regional customers in remote areas, the risk profile of road travel changes constantly. Managing risk comes down to preparation, clarity of responsibility, and ensuring drivers have both the authority and the systems to make safe decisions before and during a journey.

Pre-Trip Inspection: Safety by Design

The foundation of IXOM’s road safety framework is the pre-trip inspection. Every vehicle used for work must be checked for safety and compliance before travel begins, whether it is a Tool of Trade vehicle, car allowance vehicle, a private vehicle or hired vehicle.

This responsibility sits with the driver and is supported by clear standards that bring potential issues to the surface early. Pre-trip inspections focus on the fundamentals that directly affect safety:

• Tyre condition and tread depth
• Headlights, indicators and brake lights
• Windscreen integrity and wiper functionality
• Valid registration
• Absence of visible defects
• No evidence of oil, fuel or coolant leaks

In the past 12 months, 1,472 pre trip inspections have been completed across IXOM. Outcomes have included arranging tyre replacements when minimum tread depth is reached, repairing damage to windscreens and replacing first aid kits in vehicles.

Training that Goes Beyond Minimum Standards

All drivers complete required Level 1 Behind the Wheel training across Australia and New Zealand, supported by additional online awareness modules covering critical areas such as tyres and braking systems.

Behind the Wheel driver training translates theory into practical applications, allowing drivers to develop safer behaviours in their own vehicles under real conditions.

The objective is consistency, ensuring everyone who drives for work has the same understanding of risk, responsibility and control.

Journey Management: Planning for the Unknown

For longer or higher risk journeys, IXOM applies an additional layer of protection through Journey Management Plans (JMPs).

A JMP is required before:

• Travelling more than 400 kilometres or more than four hours one way
• Travelling into remote areas with unreliable communications
• Driving during hours when the worker would normally be asleep

In the past 12 months, 51 Journey Management Plans have been completed.

Each plan considers the full journey – not just the destination – and includes:

• Vehicle readiness through mandatory pre-trip inspection
• Equipment availability, such as mobile phones, water, fuel, first aid kits and tyre-changing equipment
• Fitness to drive, including fatigue management, adequate sleep in the previous 48 hours, and ensuring drivers are not operating vehicles after 16 hours spent awake
• Journey planning, including route selection, avoiding inclement weather, higher risk roads or intersections, and minimising in vehicle distractions

Drivers know where they are going, where they will stop, when they will rest, and how they will stay connected. Other stakeholders know where the driver is and when to expect them. This approach allows our team to travel confidently from metropolitan areas through to remote outback regions, without compromising safety.

Safety Reinforced Through Experience

IXOM reinforces our road safety approach through drive-alongs, regular reviews of Journey Management Plans, and ongoing engagement with drivers.

These touchpoints ensure standards remain practical and effective in real-world conditions. They also result in adjustments that improve outcomes, such as booking accommodation to manage fatigue or changing travel plans when conditions change.

Deliberate Decisions and Reliability

During National Road Safety Week IXOM reflects on the fact that safe outcomes result from deliberate and disciplined decisions made before, during and after a journey.

This approach underpins how we serve our customers. When journeys are well-planned, fatigue is managed and vehicles are fit for purpose, our people arrive safely, on time and ready to operate, translating into fewer interruptions, more dependable service and stronger continuity for customer operations – particularly in remote, regional or time critical environments.

By managing road risk with the same rigour and framework-driven approach we apply across all our operations, IXOM ensures safety, reliability and customer outcomes move together.