Road safety week
The annual national road safety week is around the corner, as this year it runs from Monday 14th to Sunday 20th November. As one of the biggest road safety awareness events in the UK, thousands of organisations, schools and communities participate by hosting activities, holding demonstrations and by spreading awareness. Each year there is a different theme, and this year, the theme is ‘safe roads for all.’
Participating in road safety week is a good opportunity for organisations to promote messages encouraging their employees and families to show their commitment to making the roads safer for everyone.
If you have employees who drive for work, road safety week can help both you and your team. If your staff drive company vehicles, providing your employees with road safety advice can help to reduce the risk of expensive crashes while commuting.
Why do we take part in road safety week?
More than 1.3 million people die from road traffic crashes across the world, and over 1,300 people die on the roads each year in the UK. Therefore, it is extremely important for everyone to participate in road safety week to help spread awareness to minimise the number of road accidents.
Why is road safety important for employers?
Did you know that many road accidents involve people driving to work?
Participating in road safety week shows that you are a responsible employer who cares about your employees’ safety. The week is a great opportunity to demonstrate to your employees that road safety is a part of your culture, whether they drive for work or just for personal use.
What can you do for road safety week?
- Walk or cycle to work. Instead of driving to work, encourage your employees to walk or cycle, which will reduce the congestion on the roads and pollution.
- Teach employees about road safety. Driving to work is one of the riskiest tasks your employees will do, so it’s important to ensure you’re providing enough information and advice on how your staff can remain safe on the roads. Organise a session with your team, so you can teach them about the importance of managing road risk.
- Remind staff to watch their speed. Remind drivers to drive at speeds appropriate to the road conditions. For example, driving under the speed limit when it’s raining or snowing as the stopping distance is increased during these conditions. At faster speeds, drivers have less time to react to any hazards because the breaking distance increases the quicker the vehicle is moving. This is why slowing down on the roads is important, as it gives the driver more time to avoid a crash.
- Learn about the key areas. In order to help your team, it’s a good idea to take the time to thoroughly learn about the key areas of road safety.
How you can help your staff
If your employees typically drive to work, road safety week is a great opportunity to execute sessions to bring everyone’s attention to how to make roads safer. Below are a few ideas of some of the things you can do:
- Incorporate road safety into your corporate strategy
- Introduce work-related road risk policies
- Encourage employees to select routes that have the safest roads
- Host training sessions for employees
- Investigate all collisions your employees are involved in
- Launch a road safety programme to promote safe driving within your business
Raising awareness
Why not encourage the members of your community to participate in road safety week too? Motivate them to choose safer, healthier modes of transport and empower them to keep others, as well as themselves, safe on the roads. In return, it will hopefully prevent many accidents.
