EU-OSHA teams up with the UN’s Decade of Action on Road Safety to reduce risks to drivers
News release - 11.05.2011
People working in the road transport sector face many more risks than just the danger of having a collision – that is the message of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), which is today launching a new website to help keep drivers safe. Coinciding with the launch of the United Nation’s (UN) Decade of Action on Road Safety 2011-2020, EU-OSHA provides access to a series of reports and other resources to help meet the challenges of managing health and safety in the road transport sector.
In 2009 more than a thousand lorry drivers died in crashes in Europe, 60% of them were light duty lorry drivers [1]. Bicycle and motorcycle couriers, van and lorry drivers, chauffeurs, and bus and coach drivers are particularly at risk of dying in a road accident or suffering non-fatal injuries. As well as death and injury in collisions, these workers face serious risks from handling loads, slips and falls from vehicles, exposure to vibration, and robbery and violence, among others.
Yet making drivers in the road transport sector aware of the risks they face, and what they can do about them, can be challenging. Drivers generally operate alone, and they are often used to very independent ways of working. Most companies in the sector are small enterprises employing fewer than ten workers, and many drivers are self-employed.
EU-OSHA’s new web section gives access to a wide range of resources, covering the risks faced by workers in the road transport sector, and practical examples, from across Europe and beyond, of campaigns and initiatives that have improved occupational safety and health (OSH) among drivers. Some of the material deals with the issues facing specific groups within the sector, such as delivery and despatch riders, taxi drivers, and drivers in road haulage and passenger transport.
Successful OSH initiatives in road transport are generally those that take account of how the sector operates in practice. Advice and solutions need to be based on drivers’ practical experience if they are to tackle the real problems effectively and engage drivers, including solutions that are developed by drivers for drivers. Working in partnership with employers, managers, vehicle operators, loading staff, and receivers and dispatchers of goods, as well as with the social partners and road safety organisations, has also proven itself effective.
As EU-OSHA Director Jukka Takala points out, ‘with the right approach, it is possible to raise awareness of risk and promote good practice in the road transport sector. And quite apart from reducing the human cost of accident and injury, this can bring financial benefits to businesses, no matter what their size – with fewer days lost to injury, fewer vehicles off the road for repair, fewer missed orders, and less time and paper work to investigate and follow-up accidents. I am sure that the materials on our new website will provide support and inspiration to everyone who is looking to improve safety and health in road transport.’
The reports include a review of programmes and campaigns to reach and influence the road transport sector on OSH matters, case studies of prevention practices covering road haulage and bus passenger transport, reviews of good practice guidance available for the taxi sector and courier activities by motorcycle and bicycle, and a review of road transport accidents. Two factsheets on campaigning and managing risks to drivers are available in 24 languages at http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets. An OSH in figures report that covers all transport sectors (rail, water, air and road) was published in March 2011.
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Links
New web feature: OSH of road transport drivers
Rail, Air and Water Transport at a glance
Decade of Action for Road Safety
Notes to editors
1. The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety provides a framework to countries and communities to increase action to save lives on the world's roads. More information can be found at http://www.decadeofaction.org
2. The mission of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to make Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work. EU-OSHA was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, EU-OSHA aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.
EU-OSHA will take part in the European Transport Safety Councils’ annual PRAISE seminar on work-related road safety in Brussels on 18 May. For more information please visit http://www.etsc.eu/documents/May%2018th%20Invitation%20FINAL%20080411.pdf
EU-OSHA will be present at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig from 25 to 27 May 2011. For more information please visit http://www.internationaltransportforum.org
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Press inquiries
- Birgit Müller - International press +34 94 479 35 52 | news@osha.europa.eu
- Marta Urrutia - Spanish press +34 94 479 57 46 | noticias@osha.europa.eu
- Brenda O’Brien - Brussels Liaison Office +32 2 401 68 59 | obrien@osha.europa.eu
