Road Safety Week is the UK’s biggest road safety event, organised by Brake – the road safety charity. The week aims to inspire thousands of schools, organisations and communities to take action on road safety and promote life-saving messages during the Week and beyond. It also provides a focal point for professionals working in road safety to boost awareness and engagement in their work.
Every year Brake choose a different road safety theme to focus on. The theme for 2020 is NO NEED TO SPEED.
“Road Safety Week provides us with an important focal point to engage our staff, whether they drive fleet vehicles or for personal use. With so many ways to take part, it helps us show staff, customers and the local communities we serve, that road safety is embedded into our culture.”
Mark Bromhall, Road Safety Manager, Royal Mail Group
According to ‘Brake’, every 20 minutes someone is killed or seriously injured on a British road and each of these tragedies is preventable. RSS Infrastructure Ltd (RSSI), a leading supplier of infrastructure services have taken precautions to try and reduce these figures, and make the transportation of workers to the site safer.
RSSI are proudly accredited by Driving For Better Business (DfBB), a government-backed Highways England programme to help employers in both the private and public sectors reduce work-related road risk, decrease the associated costs and improve compliance with current legislation and guidance. The Company received the accreditation after they supplied evidence of their Fleet Management Department’s safety process, that include; Vehicle Track System (VTS), monitored dash cameras, mobile phone app pre-check driver form procedure and Fatigue Monitors; a dash-mounted device that works by focussing on the driver’s retina and measures their ‘blinking pattern’ sounding audible warning if signs of drowsiness, fatigue or lack of attention is detected.
RSSI and Network Rail have also identified that there is an industry wide issue relating to passengers and drivers not using their seatbelt when in a moving vehicle. With this being said, the company are supporting Network Rail in their endeavour to raise awareness for the importance of wearing a seat belt by unveiling their new seat belt covers. The unique covers have been designed using the same high-visibility material used for Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE).
The reasoning behind this is to demonstrate to the person in the vehicle that the seat belt, as with the PPE clothing, is there to help protect and save lives. Furthermore, the reflective property of the material acts as a reminder that the seatbelts have been fitted and are available for use, especially when in a low visibility environment. The vivid colour and reflective material of the seat belt covers also acts as an advertisement to other colleagues as well as the wider public to remind them to wear their seatbelt. These covers have resulted in an increase in the level of use, consequently increasing use within the wider driving community which will inevitably lead to a reduction in injuries.
Road Safety Week is an opportunity to discuss the importance of road safety and by putting these initiatives in place, RSSI are aiming to support such charities as ‘Brake’ in reducing the number of road accidents happening every day.
For more information on Road Safety Week visit: http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/
