Roadsafe to champion major new government backed at-work driving safety initiative

A team of high-profile company bosses that have a proven record of promoting occupational road risk management in their businesses are to be recruited as ‘road safety at work champions’ under a major new 2007 initiative led by RoadSafe.

Funded by the Department for Transport as part of a soon-to-be-launched Driving at Work campaign, the aim of the initiative is to raise road safety standards in the workplace and cut the tragic toll of 1,000 road deaths and 13,000 serious injuries a year involving people who were at work at the time.

RoadSafe, the automotive industry-led charity which aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused on the road and promote safer road use, will recruit a network of employer champions, who will include company directors and fleet decision-makers, to deliver a best practice communications programme.

The high-profile development comes as RoadSafe gears up to relaunch its half-yearly best practice magazine under a new management team. To be published by automotive specialists Swordfish Publishing, the magazine will continue to be edited by Ashley Martin, a journalist with some 27 years experience. He has edited the publication for the past four years and is a former editor of industry weekly, Fleet News.

Every day of the year more than 150 vehicles being driven on company business are involved in a crash, according to latest Government casualty data.

The newly published Winter 2006 issue of RoadSafe magazine features a number of case studies on companies, including Centrica, Wolseley, Nestle Waters Direct and Sony, that have got to grips with managing the safety of their at-work drivers and simultaneously reaped financial, moral and ethical rewards.

RoadSafe director Adrian Walsh said: “We are convinced that the best way to encourage companies of all size and operating in all sectors of business to improve occupational road risk management and reduce the number of crashes involving at-work drivers is to highlight business ‘champions’ who are prepared to carry the torch and persuade other organisations to follow their lead.

“The new initiative will include identifying appropriate business leaders and fleet managers, recruiting them and providing support for their programmes. Programme support will include identifying and highlighting best practice case studies, preparing presentation material, identifying speaking opportunities and liaising directly with trade associations, chambers of commerce and business associations.”

Additionally a ‘champions’ website will highlight best practice examples and will be a key resource for information alongside the RoadSafe magazine, which, in its new format, will be published three times a year. A monthly new-look e-mail RoadSafe newsletter will also be used to champion at-work driving best practice.

With the new Road Safety Act on the statute book and the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide legislation on its journey through Parliament, the focus on reducing the number of crashes involving vehicles being driven for business remains uppermost in the minds of MPs.

Mr Walsh said: “Vehicle manufacturers and road engineers continue to introduce new features and initiatives to reduce both the risk of a collision and the likelihood of injury to all road users, but all too often it is the selfish attitude of the thoughtless minority behind the wheel who are to blame for crashes.

“Very few people will perform a job during their lifetime which is more dangerous than driving - deep sea fishing and coal mining are two of the few jobs where death is more likely than when behind the wheel - but even the construction industry is safer.

“It is therefore imperative that company directors encourage their at-work drivers to focus solely on getting to their destination safely. The benefits to staff, customers and individual companies will be numerous and profitability and productivity will increase.

“With the launch of the new outreach programme and the relaunch of our magazine under a new management team, 2007 promises to be a significant year in the history of RoadSafe which we hope will contribute to a dramatic reduction in the number of road crashes involving at-work drivers.”