But it’s not just being behind the wheel that causes employees issues; stress is another important consideration for companies requiring staff to be on the road and/or away from home regularly.

In total, more than 32% of respondents to the survey cited employees’ mental health as having an impact on drivers’ road safety – the vast majority (66%) being those who run car fleets. But nearly half of fleet managers questioned said their business never provides training to employees regarding their mental health. In fact, just 10% offer such training.

Added out-of-hours demands on employees are indicative of the changing workplace; 9-5 office-based jobs are giving way to new levels of flexibility thanks to technology such as teleconferencing and applications like Facebook and Skype, which make keeping in touch remotely easier than ever. But there is a danger that the good aspects of remote working could be undone by the damaging mental implications – stress accounts for a third of all work-related ill health, according to the Health and Safety Executive, and contribute to 43% of sick days taken.

What this technology does is create pockets of potential stress problems which can go unchecked because the employee is not in face-to-face contact with people. Issues include a lack of social interaction, working longer hours and a blurring of the work-life balance – all issues that can creep on up on someone prone to issues like stress.

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Shell and Fleet World Valuing People Survey

In this second part of our series of exclusive surveys, Shell and Fleet World questioned 266 fleet executives to find out how they interact and monitor their drivers. Covering car, van and HGV operators, the results reflect some surprising attitudes to the issues facing fleet management.