A road safety event aimed at educating businesses about the human and financial costs of not having a robust occupational road safety policy was attended by more than 50 organisations.

Organised by Arval, the free event was praised for its hard hitting content with several attendees deciding to review their approach to health and safety on the road as a result.

The story of Ashley Brixey told by his mother Clare, who lost her son in a car crash, was the trigger for many businesses to look at their own health and safety policies, with one attendee commenting, “Ashley's story will live with me for a number of years”.

A third of all road deaths result from business–related journeys and according to ORSA (the Occupational Road Safety Alliance), with drivers using vehicles for work purposes 49% more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident.

“All too often with risk management we talk about documents and policies, whereas what we are actually doing is protecting human lives and sometimes it’s the story of such a personal tragedy that can make a business sit up and take action,” said Tracey Scarr, Arval’s fleet and road safety manager.

The Arval seminar, which took place at Peugeot in Coventry, also covered other aspects of road safety such as driver education, cost management and businesses’ legal obligations.
It was Arval’s third seminar on this subject and a key partner is Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, who talked passionately about the consequences of poor driving.

Scarr added: “Arval has invested heavily in road safety programmes to mitigate the road risks that our company car drivers, our other employees and our customers face. The road safety business seminars form part of this programme, which has allowed us to win a number of prestigious road safety awards in recognition of taking our messages out to businesses.”
 

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