18 May 2011
Two Irish Businesses Win Top EU Road Safety Awards
The Minister for Transport, Mr Leo Varadkar T.D. and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) have congratulated ESB and Kildare-based Telecoms & Power company KTL who were presented with prestigious PRAISE Awards by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in Brussels today, Wednesday 18th May, 2011.
ESB, who won the Large Company Award and KTL, who won the SME Award, beat off stiff competition from across the EU to pick up the accolades for their commitment to road safety in the workplace.
The aim of the project is to recognise and ‘praise’ businesses that have demonstrated best practice in workplace road safety. The ETSC sought entrants from across the EU who could demonstrate what they have achieved through their efforts to reduce road collisions at work. ESB was awarded the Large Company Award for their commitment to ensuring the safety of their employees through a ‘Safe Driving Programme’. KTL, a Naas-based Telecoms & Power company, received the SME Award for their continued commitment to ensuring the safety of staff where driving is part of their daily routine.
Mr. Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said: “Congratulations to ESB and KTL for winning this award. This is a testament to their great work in ensuring the safety of their staff and colleagues who drive as part of their job. The workplace road safety initiatives at ESB and KTL have helped to increase road safety awareness. Most importantly these efforts have produced safer drivers, and fewer injuries and fatalities on our roads. I commend both companies’ efforts and urge other businesses to follow this example by adopting similar driving for work programmes.”
Mr Noel Brett, Chief Executive of the RSA said: “On behalf of the RSA, I would like to extend my congratulations to ESB and KTL. It is a remarkable achievement for not one, but two Irish businesses to win these awards. It shows that Irish companies are leading the way at an EU level in terms of road safety in the workplace. I am delighted that their commitment to road safety has been recognised in the EU. Road safety in the workplace is often overlooked but studies show that people who drive company cars have between 30% and 40% more collisions than ordinary drivers and this risk increases for those who drive more than 40,000 kilometres a year. I would urge companies across Ireland to follow the example set by ESB and KTL and implement a workplace road safety programme to protect staff on the road.”
ESB, who formed a Strategic Alliance ‘Achieving Safe Driving Excellence’ with the RSA in 2009, are previous winners of the RSA ‘Leading Light in Road Safety’ Award (Business category). ESB’s commercial fleet consists of almost 2,000 vehicles travelling 64 million km annually in addition to some 3,000 ESB staff driving private vehicles a total of 19 million km on ESB business annually. Recognising that driving for work was a significant risk in ESB the ‘Safe Driving Bureau’ was established in 2004. Safe driving programmes, ‘Safe Driving – It’s My Responsibility’ and ‘Achieving Road Safety Excellence’, focussed on the areas of driver training, awareness, collision reduction and cost reduction have since been implemented. The programmes have seen significant results, most importantly with a reduction in the number of fleet vehicles involved in serious collisions having dropped by 60% over the period.
Speaking about the award, Conal Bonnar, Manager, Fleet and Equipment, ESB, said: “The safety of staff, including work-related road safety, is of paramount importance for ESB. We are constantly striving to reduce the risk to our drivers, and to all road users, through our safe driving initiatives. These initiatives are widely embraced by both ESB staff and management. This award is indeed a very welcome recognition of our efforts.”
KTL, a Power and Telecoms company based in Naas and with regional offices in Ireland, UK, Belgium and South Africa, employs 170 people directly and 80 indirectly. KTL has 105 vehicles travelling 3.5 million km annually. To ensure the safety of their employees who drive as part of their job, KTL implemented a number of safe driving initiatives including a driver risk assessment where all drivers are professionally assessed to gauge their driving ability. In addition, KTL has adopted a number of measures to continuously monitor the risks associated with driving for work and implement controls to reduce these risks, such as GPS Fleet Management and more recently a “Drive Rite” pilot scheme installing behavioural software on three of their vehicles to monitor driver behaviour. The result has seen a significant decrease in the number of collisions and road traffic law infringements and an increased awareness of road safety in the workplace.
Mr Alan Hanamy CEO at KTL, said: “Keeping our staff safe on the roads is one of the most important parts of our business. Our safe driving initiatives are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure our staff members understand the importance of work-related road safety. We are delighted to receive this award as an acknowledgement of our efforts in improving road safety awareness in the workplace, and will continue to implement safe driving practices throughout our business.”
Martin O’Halloran, CEO of the Health and Safety Authority said, “ESB and KTL have put considerable resources into their work related road safety management systems and have been recognised at European level. Organisations that ensure risks are properly managed have improved safety for staff and the public.”
The ETSC’s panel of judges evaluated entrants based on a number of criteria including evidence of progress, innovation and lasting efforts. The ‘PRAISE Award’ is presented annually to an employer identified for taking on the road safety challenge responsibly. The winner of last year’s PRAISE Award was British Telecom.
The RSA and HSA have developed ‘Driving for Work’ guidelines which assist employers to manage their staff’s safety on the roads. The guidelines provide an overview of legislation, how to carry out risk assessments and highlight the significant benefits for businesses and the wider community when work related road safety is managed effectively. The guidelines are available free of charge from both the RSA and the HSA.
For further information on ESB’s ‘Safe Driving Bureau’, email safedriving@esb.ie. For information on KTL’s driving for work programme, visit www.ktl.ie
For media enquiries, please contact:
RSA Communications Office: 096 25008
Or
Brian Montayne, Corporate Communications Manager,
ESB: 087 8211715
Or
Claire O’Brien, Health & Safety Officer, KTL 0867702880