ABU DHABI: Serco Middle East, a leading provider of essential public services, held its 3rd ‘Road Safety Awareness Day’ yesterday (October 7th, 2018) in partnership with RoadSafetyUAE, the knowledge portal for road safety content in the UAE, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
The very well attended event highlighted the dangers of travelling on the UAE’s roads and raised awareness of safe driving behaviours including the importance of wearing seat belts. Research shows a high percentage of road fatalities come from not wearing seat belts and within the UAE reports have shown that 60 per cent of casualties of road accidents in the UAE are due to not wearing seat belts.
Speakers from the public and private sector including the Road and Transport Authority, RoadSafetyUAE and Serco noted the importance of such events bringing together more than 180 delegates from local organisations committed to improving road safety. The event also enables open, broad and accessible networking platform to communicate and share ideas and best practice onroad safety.
Dubai Police has reported that there was been a decrease in the number of road fatalities in 2017 with a total of 1,535 accidents from 1,787 the previous year due to speeding. The number of deaths also declined from 312 to 230, however, these numbers are still high as the UAE’s target is to reduce road casualty to three per 100,000 population by 2021 in line with the UAE Vision 2021.
David Greer, CEO of Serco Middle East, announced that the Road Safety Awareness Day was part of a week long focus on Safety in Serco with all Serco offices participating in their Zero Harm Week.He said: “I believe that all business leaders have a personal and moral responsibility to ensure that all of the people who work for their Company either directly as staff or indirectly as subcontractors or transport providers go back home in the same condition as started the day with. All of us work to try and improve our daily lives, to support our families and to give them a better life too. I believe that as a responsible corporate citizen, Road Safety is a shared responsibility, just as our roads are a shared space. None of us has the right to behave in a way that endangers others. But the tragic reality is that these actions could have serious and devastating consequences for others. We all know that a minority of reckless drivers are responsible for a large proportion of road accidents. There are no more excuses – we all need to improve how we all use the road.”
Serco Middle East exhibited its second road safety video produced in 2018 featuring Serco employees who were involved inroad accidents. Laura Kelly, Assurance Director at Serco explained how Serco are involving their employees in the road safety campaign by asking them to share real life experiences as part of the initiative.
These employees have shared their experiences and feelings of the road traffic accidents they suffered and have become ambassadors for road safety. The video was produced in English and translated into 5 other languages including Arabic, Hindi, Malayalam, Sinhalese, and Tagalog.
Thomas Edelmann, RoadSafetyUAE, Founder & Managing Director, commented: “Serco Middle East’s 3rd Road Safety Awareness Day is testament to its commitment to educate road users on safety in the best way possible, share its best practices. We still have miles to cover as 60 per cent of traffic fatalities are caused by not adhering to the rules and regulations, which has already been firmly placed by the government under a law. Enforcement and consistent education on this through available platforms can make a huge difference. Serco sets an ideal example of commitment and how to communicate a strong message to public and private organizations about this highly important issue.”
Serco Middle East has been pioneering and promoting Road Safety for several years and promotes Road Safety all year round amongst staff and contractors with various initiatives that have contributed to the reduction in road accidents affecting employees. Working in partnership with RoadSafetyUAE, Serco Middle East has been recognised as a leader in road safety. News Desk
