Latest News from ORSA
From HSE Website: www.hse.gov.uk/scotland/scorsa.htm
HSE is pleased to be a partner in the Scottish Occupational Road Safety Alliance (ScORSA) to assist the Scottish Government's Road Safety Framework to 2020 which aims to influence a reduction in road related injury and deaths. Improving the management of road related risk (MORR) is a major component of the strategy. Details of the framework can be found at Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020. (pdf document)
HSE and the Scottish Government research shows that up to a third of all road crashes involve someone who is driving for work purposes. HSE and ScORSA agree that employers should manage at-work road risk within the same legal and managerial framework that they should already have in place for managing all other health and safety risks. The reality in many businesses is that road risk is one of the highest risk factors for employees and often receives less managerial attention than is warranted in comparison to the management of the risks in the fixed site workplace.
ScORSA was created to provide free information and support to assist small and medium sized businesses to raise awareness of MORR and a wide range of free resource is available.
For information on the roles of the Police and HSE in the investigation of work-related road accidents please see HSE's role in the investigation of work-related road accidents and advice on responding to enquiries on managing work-related road safety.
ORSA signed its commitment to help save lives on the UK's roads at the European Road Safety Charter presentation and signing event on July 8 2009 in London.
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The European Road Safety Charter is an invitation by the European Commission to take concrete actions, assess results and further heighten awareness about the need to reduce road accident fatalities.
Learn more about the Charter |
DSA Press release
People who passed a car driving test before 1997 and want to supervise learners in some other categories of vehicle have until April 2010 to get the necessary new qualification.
The new rules apply to those who obtained their car licence before 1997 and who supervise learners in small lorries (category C1), minibuses (D1) or vehicle plus trailer combinations (C1+E or D1+E).
They have until 6 April next year to meet the relevant medical standards and pass the appropriate driving test if they want to continue supervising learners in those vehicles.
Drivers who passed before 1997 were given so-called “grandfather rights” to drive small lorries and minibuses. They will be able to continue driving these vehicles but will only be able to give tuition in them if they pass the test for the relevant category before 6 April 2010.
But drivers who do not pass the relevant driving test before then will have to wait three years from the date they do pass until they can supervise learner drivers.
Most instructors who provide professional training in driving small lorries and minibuses will not be affected by the change as they have already passed a driving test in a larger vehicle.
But a minority with ‘grandfather rights’ have been supervising learners without having the appropriate pass themselves.
Trevor Wedge, Great Britain’s Chief Driving Examiner, said: “In the interests of road safety, it is important that learners are supervised by people who have proved themselves capable of driving the vehicle in question.
“It was never the intention to allow learner drivers to be supervised on public roads unless they were with people who had proven experience of driving those vehicles."
10 July 2009
The inaugural international conference on road safety at work, organised by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH and partners including the World Health Organisation, Pan American Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation, US Department of State, and National Safety Council was held in Washington DC 16-18 February 2009 and was attended by more thatn 220 deleagates from over 40 countries.
View presentations from the conference at: www.virtualriskmanager.net/main/aboutus/niosh.php
View the white paper for the conference: www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/twu/global
a particularly useful review of all that is happening around the world on this topic
A national road safety organisation is working towards a further drop in traffic casualties with a new focus that aims to engage with everyone.
From 30th April 2009 the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association (LARSOA) will relaunch itself as Road Safety GB in an effort to reach out to every individual across the UK.
Alan Kennedy, Road Safety Section Manager at Durham County Council, has taken over as Chairman of the newly re-named organisation and said it wished to broaden its sphere of influence and become a familiar name to families everywhere.
Mr Kennedy said the organisation, which represents local authority road safety teams across the UK, believed that if the number of road deaths and injuries was to significantly fall, everyone, from young children to pensioners, had to play their part.
In 2007, there were 2,946 people killed on Britain’s roads and 27,774 seriously injured. Of those deaths, 3,090 were children, of which 1,899 were on foot at the time, 646 were adult pedestrians, 136 were pedal cyclists and 588 were motorcyclists.
“At some time in our lives, virtually all of us will be affected by the fall-out from a road crash,” said Mr Kennedy.
“Even if we are not involved ourselves, we will know people – friends, family or work colleagues – who are injured or die as a result of a crash.
“Making our roads safer is a challenge for all of us – not just road safety professionals. We are all in this together. While LARSOA has served us reasonably well, it’s a clumsy name that is hard to pronounce and remember. It’s well known within road safety circles, but almost unknown outside the profession.
“Our re-brand is much more than a change of name. It signifies our intention to go out and engage with everyone.”
Road Safety GB will be campaigning on four key issues, namely:
• Driver behaviour, particularly young motorists
• Impairment through drink and drug driving
• Motorcyclists
• Vulnerable road-users, such as cyclists, pedestrians and the elderly
Vice-Chairman Tim Philpot, who is Road Safety Manager at Wolverhampton City Council, said: “There are key groups of road-users we want to target, but we also need to look at the behaviour of everyone to ensure we can build a safety culture among all road-users.
“We believe that if every road-user moderated their behaviour in some positive way, and stayed focussed on their safety on the road, there would be fewer accidents each year and fewer deaths.”
The organisation’s change of name will take place today (April 30), when its new website will also go live.
It will be just prior to the May Bank Holiday weekend, when the roads are especially busy with holidaymakers, day-trippers and motorcyclists.
Mr Kennedy urged everyone to use the roads more carefully and to stay vigilant to the dangers of tiredness if they are making longer journeys over the Bank Holiday.
Mr Kennedy added: “We are determined that Road Safety GB will become the voice of road safety and will be the organisation that everyone turns to for advice and assistance about this crucial issue.”
The new website can be found at www.roadsafetygb.org.uk
About Road Safety GB:
• Road Safety GB is a national organisation representing local authority road safety teams across the UK.
• Road Safety GB represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.
• Road Safety GB publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.roadsafetygb.org.uk.
• Road Safety GB also aims to influence national debate – Government policy and action, together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.
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