May 2010 Newsletter
Helping Small and Medium Sized Businesses Manage Occupational Road Risk
ScORSA membership and on line activity continues to increase. Another successful seminar held at Airth Castle in February was attended by many union members and at which one of the speakers was Ian Tasker Chair of the STUC. A high profile Advertorial has also been placed online and in the press and has also contributed to the increased interest in ScORSA. If you have not already joined then go on line today. Membership is free and there are no hidden costs to joining.
This year representatives from ScORSA will be at the Road Safety Village at the Royal Highland Show on 24th to 27th June so if you are at the Show why not pay us a visit.
Freight Best Practice Scotland
The link to this Scottish Government department is in the Resources section of the ScORSA website. Available upon request are a number of really useful pocket-sized driver handbooks for easy reference on a wide variety of topics, including: bad weather driving and the most recent addition being information on driving heavy goods vehicles in an urban environment.
Have you clicked (Seatbelt Campaign)
A new campaign was launched by the Scottish Government, Road Safety Scotland and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), to encourage drivers and passengers to use their seat belt.
The seatbelt wearing rates in Scotland are lower among van, lorry, bus and coach drivers than car drivers. It is hoped that the safety messages will be picked up by those who get behind the wheel for work.
A recent survey carried out for the Department for Transport found that 95 per cent of car drivers in Scotland wear seatbelts. However, the wearing rate dropped to just 23 per cent among bus, coach and minibus drivers. The figure was 58 per cent for lorry drivers and 82 percent for van drivers. Car passengers belted up more often than passengers in other vehicles.
The "Have You Clicked" Toolkit, to assist organisations in promoting seatbelt use is available online. Additional information is available in the stakeholder’s toolkit and includes posters screensavers and other free support materials.Or contact your local road safety officer (details on the ScORSA website).
World Cup fixtures list in Z Card format
To support the Summer Safety Drink/Drug-Driving campaign, Road Safety Scotland has a large quantity of World Cup z-cards for distribution throughout Scotland. These cards have the World Cup Fixtures List along with drink drug driving information and the recidivist seizure-forfeiture scheme. If any organisation would like supplies for distribution to staff please contact Audrey Thomson either by email or phone 0131 472 9200 to make your request for this free resource.
Supervising C1 and D1 learner drivers
New arrangements came into effect on 1 May 2010. From that date, it is illegal for anyone to act as an accompanying driver in a category C1, C1+E, D1 or D1+E vehicle unless they have passed a driving test for the particular category of vehicle concerned.
Details can be found on the DSA website.
Free Vehicle Log Books
These logbooks will help you to keep accurate records of who was driving your company vehicles on a specific date and at a specific time. This will enable you to adhere to Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, whereby it is the responsibility of the Registered Keeper to know who is driving a vehicle at all times.
Recent amendments to Health and Safety law have made it clear that employers can be judged to have a responsibility for the actions of their employees when carrying out tasks such as driving for work.
In an effort to help small business comply with the law these vehicle log books have been developed to provide you with the opportunity to record vehicle use. It is recommended that drivers complete journey details on a daily basis and the information should be filed on a weekly/fortnightly basis for future reference.
The information completed in the logs can be used to monitor mileage and fuel consumption. Contact www.transportlog.co.uk for your free log books
Which? Car Tests
Which? has launched a separate section of their website that covers the results of their independent car tests. This may be of interest to managers choosing fleet vehicles.
RoSPA Young Drivers at Work Toolkit
A groundbreaking RoSPA initiative which identified a need for further skills and training among young people who drive for work has culminated in the creation of a free online toolkit to enable employers to run their own in-house workshops.
Their launch marks the final stage of RoSPA’s two-year Young Drivers at Work project, funded by the Department for Transport.
The workshop is designed to be led by fleet, human resources or health and safety managers, or by road safety professionals, and is for 17-24-year-old employees who drive as part of their job, no matter what their role.
The online toolkit consists of an activity guide and facilitator’s notes, including guidance on how to evaluate a workshop.
TYRESAFE report
UK drivers wasting £700 million of fuel through under-inflation
The report by Tyresafe estimates that over a third of drivers in the UK are needlessly increasing their fuel bills and taking extra safety risks by failing to keep their tyres properly inflated. With new record high average petrol prices, TyreSafe estimates that as much as £700 million of fuel is being wasted. By keeping tyres inflated to their correct pressure, motorists benefit from lower fuel bills, longer tyre life, increased safety and reduced CO2 emissions.