The international standard for road traffic safety management. For companies with fleets, hauliers, construction firms and any organisation whose workers travel by road: reduce accidents, cut fleet costs and unlock tenders that already require this certificate.
Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of occupational death in Spain. Every incident involving a company vehicle — whether a delivery lorry, a technician's van or a sales representative's car — generates direct costs (repairs, sick leave, civil liability) and indirect costs (operational delays, reputational damage, higher insurance premiums) that few SMEs have ever quantified. ISO 39001, adopted in Spain as UNE-ISO 39001:2013, provides the systematic framework for identifying those risks, measuring them and reducing them in a planned and auditable way.
The standard adopts the High Level Structure (HLS) shared by ISO 9001, ISO 45001 and ISO 14001, which makes it straightforward to integrate with management systems your organisation already has in place. Its requirements cover the seven road safety performance factors defined by the standard itself: speed, alcohol and drugs, seat-belt use, distracted driving, driver fitness, night-time visibility and crash protection. For each factor, the organisation must set measurable targets, implement operational controls and measure results annually. The PDCA cycle requires every accident to be investigated, the root cause identified and corrective actions applied — exactly what the Labour Inspectorate demands when a commuting or work-related traffic accident occurs.
Pressure to achieve ISO 39001 certification is growing in Spain. The DGT (Directorate-General for Traffic) published its 2025 Guide on road safety clauses in public procurement, explicitly recommending that certification be included as a technical criterion in tendering specifications for transport, construction, road maintenance and urban services. For many companies, holding the certificate is no longer an optional competitive advantage — it is the minimum threshold needed to score points in contracts that would otherwise be out of reach. Summum Calidad supports the entire process: from the road risk assessment through to the certification audit with the accredited body of your choice (AENOR, Bureau Veritas, SGS or another). We are consultants, not certifiers; the certificate is issued by a third party accredited by ENAC.
We analyse your organisation's actual exposure: journey types, fleet size and composition, professional and occasional drivers, accident and incident history, and existing controls. We calculate the gap against UNE-ISO 39001:2013 requirements and prioritise risk factors by potential impact.
We define the road safety policy, system scope and quantitative accident-reduction objectives. We design the risk matrix, operational controls for each performance factor (speed, distraction, driver fitness, etc.) and procedures for investigating accidents and near-misses.
We deploy the document system, train fleet managers, drivers and management, and embed road safety indicators into the system's periodic review. If you already hold ISO 9001 or ISO 45001, we integrate the road safety requirements into existing procedures to avoid duplication.
We carry out a full internal audit before the external certification to identify and correct any non-conformities. We prepare the dossier, coordinate with the certification body of your choice and accompany you through Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits until the ENAC-accredited certificate is issued.
The operational detail: what we deliver as part of the work and what we keep alive afterwards.
Road exposure assessment
Inventory and risk classification of all organisational journeys: road type, time of day, distance, driver profile and vehicle category.
Road safety policy and objectives
Framework document with measurable management commitments, aligned with the DGT's Strategic Road Safety Plan 2021-2030 and with the tendering requirements that apply to your activity.
Operational controls by risk factor
Specific procedures for the seven performance factors in the standard: internal speed limits, alcohol and drug policy, safe-driving training, fatigue management, preventive fleet maintenance and use of passive safety devices.
Accident and incident investigation
Root-cause analysis protocol for every accident or near-miss, with records, corrective action and follow-up. Directly addresses Labour Inspectorate requirements following occupational road traffic accidents.
Performance indicators and dashboard
Set of road safety KPIs: accident rate, kilometres per accident, severity index, cost per incident and annual trend. Reviewed at the system management review.
Internal audit and continual improvement
Annual internal audit programme for the road safety management system, management review with a standardised agenda and a documented improvement plan for the next cycle.
Road risk management is strengthened by combining ISO 39001 with the occupational health and safety system (ISO 45001, also from Summum Calidad) and, where fleets include digital assets or telematics, with the cybersecurity managed by Summum Sistemas.
Occupational health and safety: commuting and work-related road accidents are occupational accidents; ISO 45001 and ISO 39001 integrate into a single system covering the full worker risk cycle.
View service → calidadQuality management system: implementing it alongside ISO 39001 allows shared document structure, internal audits and management reviews, reducing the overall maintenance effort.
View service → sistemasWorking-time recording: hours at the wheel and driver fatigue are road risk factors; an accurate time-recording system feeds performance indicators into the road safety management system.
View service →There is no general legal obligation to obtain ISO 39001 certification. However, the DGT published its 2025 Guide on road safety clauses in public procurement, recommending that certification be included as a technical criterion in tendering specifications for transport, construction, road maintenance and urban services. For many companies competing for such contracts, the certificate has become a de facto requirement for scoring points or gaining access to the tender.
Any organisation whose workers travel by road on a regular basis: freight and passenger transport companies, logistics operators, construction firms, infrastructure maintenance companies, urban services providers (cleaning, waste collection), courier and delivery companies, and organisations with a field sales force or itinerant technicians. It is also relevant for public administrations with their own fleets.
The full process from assessment to certificate issuance typically takes between 4 and 8 months, depending on fleet size, journey complexity and existing management systems. If the organisation already has ISO 9001 or ISO 45001 in place, integration significantly shortens the timeline, as a large part of the document structure and audit cycle is shared.
A Strategic Road Safety Plan (PESV) is a statement of intent; ISO 39001 is a management system audited and certified by an independent third party. The standard provides the systematic framework that turns PESV objectives into measurable and verifiable processes. Many organisations develop their PESV first and then formalise and certify it under ISO 39001 to provide evidence to clients, contracting authorities or the Labour Inspectorate.
No. Summum Calidad is an implementation consultancy: we accompany your organisation through the entire process until you are ready for the external audit. The certificate is issued by a body accredited by ENAC (AENOR, Bureau Veritas, BSI, APCER, SGS or others). You choose the certifier; we prepare you to pass with confidence and without surprises.