Employers can now register for Road Safety Week 2019 (18–24 November), the UK’s biggest road safety event, which involves thousands of communities, schools and organisations each year.
Road safety charity Brake, which coordinates the event, is encouraging employers to go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/organisations and register for a free action pack to help them raise awareness and promote safer road use to staff, contractors and the wider community.
To help give employers tips and ideas on how organisations of any size or type can get involved in Road Safety Week, the charity’s not-for-profit global campaign Global Fleet Champions is running a free webinar on Tuesday 10 September at 2pm. Global Fleet Champions aims to prevent crashes and reduce pollution caused by vehicles used for work purposes. Registration is available via the Road Safety Week website.
This year’s Road Safety Week, coordinated with the support of the Department for Transport (DfT), and sponsored by Specsavers, is encouraging everyone to ‘Step up for Safe Streets’. The Week will focus on how everyone can ‘step up’ and do their bit for road safety.
Brake is encouraging employers to get involved by being leaders for safe and healthy journeys. They can do this by having robust policies and procedures in place to manage road risk. This means choosing the safest and least-polluting vehicles and maintaining them to manufacturer guidelines; choosing routes that use the safest roads and avoid places where people live; regularly assessing drivers’ fitness to drive; and monitoring all collisions and near-misses and investigating the cause. Employers are also being encouraged to enable staff to walk, cycle and use public transport wherever possible, to benefit their health and reduce the risk posed to others.
Road Safety Week has been inspiring people for 22 years and is a great opportunity for employers, especially those with staff who drive for work, to develop and promote safe travel internally, raise awareness in their local community and link with other organisations to run road safety campaigns.
Dave Nichols, community engagement manager for Brake, said: “We believe it’s everyone’s human right to be able to get around in a safe and healthy way every day. With far too many people still being killed and seriously injured on our roads, this Road Safety Week we want everyone to “Step up for Safe Streets” and learn about, shout about and celebrate the amazing design-led solutions that can help us end this suffering and create a safe and healthy future for all.
“Employers can really take the lead on safe and healthy journeys and help get these vital messages out to drivers, families and young people, making a big difference to their local community. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t already registered to sign up now for their free action pack”
Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances at Specsavers, said: “We are proud to support Road Safety Week this year and we’re working with Brake to highlight the importance of good eyesight for safe driving. Driving is one of the most dangerous tasks that someone will perform in their day to day lives but we know that around one in four people do not have regular eye tests. We would encourage all employers make sure that people who drive in the course of their work have regular eye tests to fulfil their health and safety responsibilities.”
Mark Bromhall, road safety manager at Royal Mail Group, said: “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.”
