Chances are, if you’re a safety professional looking after your company’s driver population, you’ve had to ask them to sign something. Whether that be a driver training attestation or a required signature stating your employee will follow the company’s driver safety policy, we can also bet that you’ve been missing some signatures.
You may have even heard any one of the following from your employees when inquiring as to why they didn’t sign:
- “I was never told that was our safety policy”
- “I never got that email”
- “My Internet cut out halfway through the meeting”
- “I didn’t understand the new stipulations”
→ Download Now: Driver Safety Policies: Best Practices and Drafting Considerations
While scary to state, the harsh reality is that a single click can be the deciding factor in whether you win or lose a lawsuit. That’s why verifiable proof is so important to have on file. When you have a record of such information that showcases an employee received training or agreed to a policy, that’s valuable evidence. Without a digital or physical signature, you’re on shaky legal ground.
It’s easy to think sending an email is sufficient, but that’s not always the case. In court, it’s not enough to prove you sent information. You need evidence the employee reviewed and understood the information.
If you’re not currently using digital signatures, or if you’re having trouble tracking and organizing electronic signature data related to your fleet driver policy, there’s a simple solution:
Virtual Signatures are Concrete Evidence
Digital signatures, e-signatures or whatever you call them are an affirmative action taken to show agreement or accept responsibility. Many people don’t realize: a digital signature doesn’t have to be an actual signature.
Consider this – a name written in cursive doesn’t have any additional legal validity or special powers. The next time you pay for groceries with a credit card, you can sign with a smiley face if you want to.
Officially, a digital signature can be, “an electronic sound, symbol or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.” What does that mean?
- When you ask Alexa to buy more laundry detergent, that’s a binding agreement “signed” by the sound of your voice.
- When you click “I Agree” after downloading a new app, that’s a digital signature.
Without Records, it Never Happened
Digital acknowledgements create an extra layer of legal protection you don’t get by sending an email. Requiring an electronic signature, which can truly be as simple as checking a box, proves an employee:
- Received information or training
- Acknowledged their understanding of a new regulation
- Attended a meeting
- Agreed to comply with a new policy
It’s true, a single click can really protect your company. “Click-through” software licenses have proven completely enforceable in court. Digitally signed acknowledgements can shield your company against such excuses:
- I never got that email
- My internet cut out halfway through the meeting
- I didn’t understand the new regulation
In the digital age we currently live in, banks, credit card issuers and mortgage companies rely on electronic signatures to create legally-binding contracts, agreements and understandings. As a dedicated safety professional, know that you can too thanks to tools like driver training.
Digital Signatures Can Bolster Your Fleet Driver Policy
Unique functionalities found on an advanced driver training platform can make it easy to collect and record digital signatures that in turn help create an airtight driver safety policy, including:
- Assigning employees a document to review online, requiring them to take a simple action (such as checking a box) to acknowledge they understand and agree to what they’ve read.
- Sharing a video or slide deck, assigning it to one or more employees and requiring each employee to correctly answer a question about the content.
- Sending a video to a driver that shows them committing an infraction and requiring the driver to digitally acknowledge the infraction and the consequences if the infraction happens again.
- Digital recordkeeping and compliance tracking all under one roof for our fleet owners.
- Utilizing “I Agree” as a form of digital acknowledgement.
A Single Click Matters
A single click really can make a difference. Taking a step in improving your company’s legal protection through drivers is of the utmost importance in keeping your company safe. A check of the box or signature on the dotted line can do just that which prompts the question – are you curious as to where else you can improve your fleet driver policy?
We recommend checking out our driver safety policy white paper, where you can learn how to ensure you aren’t missing the fundamentals needed to keep your driver population safe.
