Annual driver event marks year-on-year safety improvement for SIG plc

SIG plc ran its second annual UK Commercial Driver of the Year competition last week, as the company celebrates a significant improvement in year-on-year safety figures.

SIG recorded a 23 percent decrease in road accidents since 2009 – which equates to a 41 percent reduction in average cost of accidents per month over the same period. SIG’s achievement was recognised by the Fleet Safety Forum, which shortlisted its entry to the ‘Company Driver Safety’ award last month.

The significant improvement is attributed to SIG plc’s group-wide Road Risk Policy – a road safety and efficiency strategy which, since its implementation three years ago, has improved standards of driver safety across the board for the FTSE-250 firm.

SIG plc UK logistics director Scot Gerry said: “As a distribution company with a sizeable fleet of commercial vehicles, establishing and maintaining the highest standards of road safety is top of our list of priorities. To see such a marked decrease in incidents over recent years is a great result for us, but there is always more to be done.

“The Driver of the Year event is designed to not only translate the ethos of the Road Risk Policy into something tangible, practical and enjoyable, but to remind our drivers that we appreciate their ongoing commitment to safety. It was as much a success this year as in its inaugural year, and we hope to continue it for many years to come.”

The second annual UK Commercial Driver of the Year event, held on Saturday 30 June at the MIRA ltd testing facility in Nuneaton, reinforced the firm’s pledge to reward the safest and most fuel efficient drivers and uphold the principles of the Road Risk Policy.

Drivers competed in four categories: ‘Up to 3.5 tonne’; ‘3.5-7.5 tonne’; ‘Over 7.5 tonne’; and ‘Moffatt’. Noel Green from Sheffield Insulations Barking branch (pictured), the winner of the ‘Over 7.5 tonne’ category, was chosen as overall winner by the judges and named SIG plc’s UK Commercial Driver of the Year 2012. He was presented with a 32gb iPad as the main event winner.