Learning from the Leaders: Rory Morgan – Fostering a Culture of Safety at Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain globally has 20,000 employees and its UK and Ireland business operates a fleet of 360 vehicles. So how did Rory Morgan, National Logistics General Manager, manage to embed a substantial cultural change across the company, from management down through the entire organization?

“My first priority was to get staff to buy-in to emerging trends in road safety,” he explains. “I believe drivers need to recognize that there may be opportunities to improve their driving and they need to be encouraged to maintain those improvements.”

As well as targeting actual driver behavior, he says “The aim was to encourage widespread adoption of a safe-driving culture by engaging staff in the program and rewarding good driving”. Rory helped establish an incentive program in which individuals and regional teams that perform well are recognized through the company’s internal communications channels and are awarded Red Letter Days vouchers.

Rory also credits Iron Mountain’s stringent driver training program as crucial to the success of the initiative. Five dedicated trainers were hired to screen drivers during the recruitment process and work with line managers to assess and improve performance on an ongoing basis. The driver trainers and GreenRoad complement each other to provide the best possible guidance, support and training to minimize driver and driving risks.

Reaping the rewards

The results have been particularly impressive. In 2007, incidents cost the company $1.4 million. By 2011, this cost had gone down to $800,000. Iron Mountain’s reported road incidents reduced by 71% and the cost of claims was cut by 43% in just two years. Rory calculates that the driver-safety initiatives have saved Iron Mountain $3 million over three years.

Throughout the process, Rory has worked closely with a range of internal stakeholders, suppliers and industry experts. His hard work has paid off in more ways than one. In 2011, Zurich reduced Iron Mountain premiums by 14% premium. This was continued throughout 2012, with a further reduction of 8% granted in 2013.

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