Scottish work-releated road safety under the spotlight

Cutting the number of people killed in road crashes while they are working will be the focus of a series of free events across Scotland next month.

Four Work-Related Road Safety seminars are being held by the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, in association with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). They will enable Scottish businesses to learn how to manage the risks involved in their staff using the road for work purposes.

It is estimated that approximately 100 people die each year on Scotland's roads while going about their work, a figure that is roughly three times higher than the number of reported accidental deaths occurring in Scottish workplaces.

Managing occupational road risk is a key road safety and occupational safety issue, affecting not only those organisations that employ professional drivers, but any organisation with staff who use the road for work purposes. This can include those with fleets of sales reps, employees who travel from site to site and managers who drive to meetings.

The seminars, which will include presentations and discussion tables, will be held on: Thursday, June 5, at the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness; Friday, June 6, at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre; Thursday, June 12, at the Falkirk Stadium; and, Thursday, June 19, at Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries.

They will highlight the legal, safety and business cases for action on work-related road safety, and delegates will have opportunities to find out about training and motivating drivers and line managers, developing company policies and standards, the Corporate Homicide Act and the environmental impact of driving. There will also be information about the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance and the role of the police in relation to work-related road safety.

Willie Wills, RoSPA's Road Safety Manager for Scotland, who will be speaking at each of the events, said: “Driving is the most dangerous thing that the majority of people do as part of their job. RoSPA has been working for more than a decade to raise awareness of the risks involved in using the road for work purposes and the steps that employers can take to manage those risks. These seminars provide an excellent opportunity to share these important messages with organisations across Scotland.

“As well as the obvious moral and legal prompts for wanting to keep employees and others safe on the road, Scottish companies and organisations that develop a proactive approach to road risk can also reap significant business benefits, including reduced insurance, fuel and repair costs and less staff time lost.”

The seminars, running from 9.30am to 3pm, are free to organisations based in Scotland. Each delegate will receive a copy of the RoSPA Managing Occupational Road Risk Guide, which is usually priced at £25.

For more information, or to book places, visit www.rospa.com/events/, call 0121 248 2120 or email events@rospa.com